Yu-Gi-Oh! EXELIXI
by Psychid
Summary: Mira Oshaki is not your average everyday duelist. She, along with several other duelists of her kind, is destined to save two worlds from a force that threatens both! RELIGIOUS STORY; ON HIATUS
1. Justice of Prophecy

If any of you ever writes a chapter story like this, you _really_ need to make sure it's one you, yourself, are sure to enjoy writing. You also need to be _absolutely sure_ that it's a story you're going to stick with, and _not_ discontinue so abruptly, which would leave your fans outraged.

That's something I've learned the hard way. Multiple times, even.

Ever since I joined this site back in February 2006, most of the stories I have written were stories that only lasted one chapter (to be honest, I thought they were called "oneshots", but it turns out a "oneshot's" completely different). It's mostly because I find writing one-chapter stories easier than writing stories with multiple chapters, mostly because I don't have to worry about what will happen next, and the continuity.

And actually, I _did_ try writing a chapter story as early as 2006 or 2007. It was a crossover between _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX_ and _Harry Potter_ (which, as I've found out, is one of the most popular crossovers I've seen). Alas, it didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, mostly because my "writing maturity" wasn't as mature back then as it is now. That, and I suddenly lost interest in it.

And for those of you who are familiar with me and my stories, you may have remembered that I've wanted to write a _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ fan fiction with dueling in it, and I've attempted at it multiple times…and failed each time. I don't know exactly how many times, but I'm positive it was at least ten. I kid you not—I tried writing it _at least __**ten times**_, and I have failed each time! I'm pretty sure that anyone who's had failed at writing a story like mine that many times would have their reputation ruined.

But I'm losing track of myself. Let me start over:

Hello. This is Psychid, as usual. And welcome to my "newest" project, which I hope to stick with this time: _Yu-Gi-Oh! EXELIXI_.

This is yet another crack at the _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ dueling story I've always wanted to write ever since I joined this site. But trust me when I say that this story is going to be _big_. And by that, I mean it's going to be "big" in the sense that I'm going to take one of the biggest risks I don't think anyone's ever taken without being ballyhooed or harassed for it.

I'm actually going to make this a _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ fan fiction with Scientology references in later chapters.

Before you go and pummel me with criticisms, hate mail and rotten fruits and vegetables, I want to make some things perfectly clear: Yes, I acknowledge that Scientology is one of the most controversial religions of today, and I am aware of why it's so controversial. No, I do not acknowledge it as the "true religion". No, I am not a Scientologist, nor do I expect to convert to it (at least not at the moment). And no, I am not trying to shove my beliefs down your throats.

But I'm, strangely enough, one of the few people who's actually interested in it, and I feel that it's gotten so much disrespect these past couple of years, and I feel like I should try and do whatever it takes to get people to have a better understanding of the religion. Even if you don't, I still hope you enjoy what you see.

Again, I'm losing track of myself. Let's talk about what you'll expect to see in the story:

Before I do, however, I want to tell you right away that you'll be seeing some "original" characters and plot elements that you'll find vaguely familiar. In the case of the former, most of you who are like me may find the characters' appearances very similar to those of other characters from cartoons or games, whether the latter be video games or online games. Yes, I know I could do better than that; but truth be told, I never could come up with anything that was "purely" original. Just be thankful I'm not as low as the assholes behind Video Brinquedo. But I will say that I do not own the references most of my original characters are based on, and they therefore belong to their respectful owners.

As for the duels themselves: This story will feature both Ground Duels and Turbo Duels, both of which will be performed via the Augmented Reality Duels featured in _Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL_. All duels will follow the same rules of the OCG/TCG, with the exception of most of them starting at four thousand (4000) Life Points apiece. I find writing duels that start at four thousand easier than ones that start at eight thousand.

In addition to cards that exist in the OCG/TCG, this story will feature cards exclusive to the anime and manga, along with cards created by other authors on this site, and possibly other sites. Exceptions to cards originating from the anime or manga will be ones whose effects aren't fully accurate, as stated by the _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ Wiki. Nevertheless, all non-OCG/TCG cards featured will be properly referenced and credited at the end of each chapter they debuted in.

Since this story will feature _ZEXAL's_ feature of Augmented Reality Duels, along with D-Pads and Duel Gazers, Xyz Monsters will also be included. However, I promised my beta-reader, Youngbountygirl (whom I'd like to take the time to thank for agreeing to be beta-reader for this story), that I wouldn't include them as often as I originally intended, for the sake of respect to the anime's canon. In other words, don't expect too many Xyz Monsters, dear readers. Also, there will _**not**_ be anything related to the Pendulum Monsters or Pendulum Summoning in the upcoming _Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V_, for the same reasons.

This story will also follow the OCG Forbidden/Limited Lists for February 2014. While I'm on the subject, I will tell you that I find it interesting that ever since September 2013, there are two separate Lists: One that is exclusive to the OCG, and another exclusive to the TCG. As said before, this story will follow the Forbidden/Limited Lists for the OCG, because most of this story will take place in Japan, and I feel like using the OCG Lists would be considered authentic. Two rules I will _**not**_ follow, however, are the OCG's new rules that are effective next Friday (March 21), in which the player cannot draw a card during the first turn of the Duel, and that there can be two Field Spell Cards on the field at the same time.

One last thing: When reviewing my stories, I would greatly appreciate it if you gave me _**actual critique**_. I'm aware I've been asking for praise back then (and even today, I occasionally do). But this time, I'm serious: I would like nothing but _**critique**_. I would also appreciate it if you did _**not**_ include anything that is completely unrelated to either the chapter reviewed, or the story itself.

And now, for my usual 411!

* * *

**FULL SUMMARY:** Mira Oshaki is not your average everyday duelist. She, along with several other duelists of her kind, are destined to save both her home planet and a planet in another universe from Cronus and his evil accomplices!

**STORY RATING:** Rated T for mild violence, mild language, religious content and other suggestive material

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh!_, _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX_, _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_, _Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL_,_Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V_ or any other _Yu-Gi-Oh!_ anime Kazuki Takahashi, the series' rightful creator, may come up with. Though I own the characters exclusive to this story, I do not own the characters they are based on; they are all copyright to their respective owners.

* * *

"_Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe."_

_~L. RON HUBBARD_

* * *

Mira Oshaki—our long-black-haired, red-eyed heroine of this tale—suddenly found herself in her own dream. …At least, that's what she thought it was.

How could it _not_ be a dream? Every dream has at least some form of abnormality. Plus, one would occasionally find themselves in their own dream. But this was nowhere close to the kind of dream Mira would usually have. All she saw were pitches of black and vast areas of sand. There were no other notable people, or any other notable objects for that matter—just the blackness and the sand.

Actually, she _did_ see two objects falling down from the sky and landing in front of her. They were both rather large, ovular rocks. One of them was colored light blue with a male gender symbol pointing upright, with a small dot in the center of its circle. The other was colored spring green with a circle that had a plus sign inside. Upon both rocks' landing, a light shone around them.

Suddenly, a third rock fell; this one was a black jagged rock with a symbol resembling a cross with a squiggle attached to its bottom right corner. Upon its landing, the light blue rock began to crack until it crumbled into dust. The spring green rock simply faded away, for reasons unknown. Afterwards, seven smaller versions of the black jagged rock emerged from the sand, surrounding their original counterpart. Each of them had a different symbol carved in the front; one of them had the same symbol as the rock that had crumbled earlier.

Just when things couldn't possibly get even stranger for Mira, another rock fell. This one was a white rectangular rock with a symbol resembling the number four with a curve on its far left side—strangely enough, the same symbol as one of the smaller jagged rocks. Upon its landing, six small ovular crystals—each of which were amethyst, amber, ruby, topaz, sapphire and emerald—began floating around the rectangular rock, then floated around the small jagged rocks, causing them to crumble. The original jagged rock eventually crumbled along with them.

"_Mira Oshaki!"_ a female voice spoke from out of nowhere.

"Wh-who said that?!" Mira demanded, hastily turning her head back and forth as she slowly stepped back in fear.

"_You are one of Earth's inhabitants who are destined to save both your own planet and ours!"_

"W-wait a minute! I don't even know what's going on!"

"_All will be explained in due time, Mira Oshaki! In due time!"_

"WHO THE HELL _ARE_ YOU?!"

No sooner had she said those words when she abruptly woke up and began looking around the room, breathing heavily and sweating almost uncontrollably. Much to her relief, she didn't see any areas of sand, or any falling rocks for that matter. All she saw was an old mirror hanging above a clothes drawer, some slightly tattered curtains covering a broken glass window, and her two friends sleeping in the same room as her; one beside her in her bed, and the other in a hammock.

Mira wanted to go back to sleep; but with the dream she just had, she decided to try and do something else to calm her nerves. Not wanting to disturb her friends, she carefully pulled herself out of the covers, wrapped a black robe over her dark purple midriff and black sleep shorts, and crept down the rusty iron stairs to step outside. As soon as she did, she began to smile, knowing that the cool night air was comforting her.

Mira Oshaki was pretty much your average everyday duelist of nineteen. Like most duelists around her age, she had dreams. And her biggest dream was most likely the same as most duelists': To become one of the greatest duelists who ever lived. Unlike most people, however, she did not expect herself to be better than the King of Games, Yugi Muto; that was a goal even she knew was virtually impossible to accomplish.

"That was one of the weirdest dreams I've ever had," she said, stretching. "I don't even know if there was any meaning to it!" She went back inside to get her needed rest.

Little would she soon realize that there _was_ a meaning to the dream she just had. And little would she expect that she, along with several other duelists of her kind, would be destined to save not only her home planet, but another planet in another universe, as well.

This is that story.

* * *

**YU-GI-OH! EXELIXI**

**CHRONICLE 001  
JUSTICE OF PROPHECY**

* * *

On the morning after her dream, Mira was having breakfast with two friends mentioned earlier in this chapter. Allow me to properly introduce them to you: Homanu Ishako and Kero Nobuyuki.

Upon first meeting him, one might expect Homanu to be the stereotypical street thug. It would make sense, noting his medium-cut brown hair, his brown eyes, and his tall, muscular physique. In truth, he was much more kindhearted than one might expect, and would do anything to protect his friends from any harm, even if he did occasionally push the limits to do that. At this moment, he was dressed in a gray undershirt and brown boxers.

Although of average height, Kero Nobuyuki was always the shortest of the three friends when compared to each other. He had long, magenta-colored hair, green eyes, and a cheerful look on his face. He was a good friend to almost anyone, but he was occasionally immature. In fact, he was the least mature of the three friends. But what he lacked in maturity, he more than made up for with a passion to never give up in his duels. At this moment, he was dressed in a white long-sleeved sleep shirt and red sweatpants.

"Today's the big day, Mira!" Homanu told her. "Today's the final match of the Neo Domino Summer Dueling Championship!"

"I _so_ can't wait for it!" Kero squealed. "I can't believe Mira is _actually_ going up against England's top duelist, Arthur Rutherford! This is gonna be so _schweet_!"

"Yeah, great…" Mira said, laughing nervously as she continued eating her breakfast of two tamagoyakis.

Hearing this, Homanu immediately knew something was wrong with his female friend. "Mira…are you okay?" he gently asked her.

"Ah, she's probably getting nervous about the match," Kero assured him. "I mean, she _is_ going up against a professional like Arthur, after all! These things happen to _everyone_; it's _normal_!"

"It's not that," said Mira, "it's…it's something else…"

"What is it?" asked Homanu.

"See, I had this dream last night-"

"So you had a nightmare about losing to Arthur in the finals?" Kero quickly assumed. "Don't worry; it's not like it'll actually _happen_, even though you _are_ gonna be up against a professional!"

"_Kero!"_ Homanu harshly scolded him.

"I'm just saying!"

"It's not that," said Mira. "The thing is…I don't know _what_ my dream was about last night…"

"Well, what happened?" asked Homanu.

After taking a deep breath, she explained everything that happened in her dream last night, including the vast areas of sand and the falling rocks that eventually crumbled away. "And the strangest part is," she said, "there was this voice that told me I was one of Earth's 'destined inhabitants' to 'save my own planet and theirs'…"

"Man, that _is_ strange!" Kero said.

"I probably wouldn't worry about it right now," Homanu suggested. "You have more _important_ things to worry about, remember?"

"You're right," said Mira, getting herself up from the table. "I gotta get ready for the final match!"

"Yeah!" said Kero, leaping out of his seat and wildly running around the living room that was located next to the dining room. "I can see it now: Satellite's Mira Oshaki versus England's Arthur Rutherford! It's all gonna be 'DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT-DT!' and 'PYEW-PYEW-PYEW-PYEW!' with some 'TRAP CARD, ACTIVATE!' and-"

"Okay, let's not pop any blood vessels," said Mira as she headed upstairs to change. Homanu and Kero eventually followed her to do the same.

* * *

A couple minutes later, the three friends were dressed in their everyday attire. Mira was dressed in an onyx riding jacket over a dark purple T-shirt with a platinum 'D' decorated on the front, fingerless gloves in the same color as her T-shirt, slender black riding pants, and purple riding boots. A black Wrist Dealer—the same gauntlet-like object worn by all Turbo Duelists everywhere—was also worn on her left wrist.

Homanu was dressed in a brown jacket over a red T-shirt with a meteor surrounded by bright blue flames decorated on the front, brown fingerless gloves, gray riding pants, and black riding boots. Of the three friends' attire, Kero's was the most plain: a white, long-sleeved shirt, black jeans, and white sneakers.

As they entered the garage, Mira fastened something onto the left side of her face. It was the Duel Gazer: the eyepiece-like object used in Augmented Reality Duels. You'll see how it works later on in this chapter; but note right now that it is an eyepiece-like object comprised of a microphone and a lens. In this case, Mira's microphone was black while the lens was tinted magenta.

She also picked up a dark purple helmet lying on a shelf nearby and fastened it on her head; part of her long hair went through in the form of a ponytail. She then walked over to her Duel Runner: the motorcycle-like vehicles used in Turbo Duels. Hers was one resembling the Giganto L: the Duel Runners used by the once infamous Dark Signers; only it was dark purple, less threatening in appearance and could now take as much punishment as the typical Duel Runner. In place of the Duel Disk system underneath the Duel Field screen, however, was a dashboard with a row of five violet Monster Card Zones with two horizontal slots underneath. Another Duel Runner was parked across from Mira's Duel Runner; but you'll learn more about it later.

"Well, guys," she announced as she climbed upon her own Duel Runner, "I'm heading out!"

"We'll be rooting for you all the way!" Homanu encouraged her as he pressed a nearby button that opened the rusty garage door.

"Good luck, Mira!" Kero cheered.

Mira only smiled at her friends as she pressed a button on her helmet that caused a clear-tinted visor to slide down, which only went down to her eyes. After turning on her Runner and shifting its gears, she rode out of the garage and towards her destination.

"C'mon!" Kero said to his male friend as soon as their female friend was gone. "Let's get our own Duel Gazers before the final match starts! I don't want to miss a minute of _this_!" Almost without thinking, he dashed out of the garage and up the stairs to get what he needed.

"Oh, Kero…will you _ever_ learn to calm down?" Homanu playfully sighed as he followed his friend upstairs.

* * *

Mira's destination was the Memorial Circuit: Neo Domino's most famous tournament, and the same location where historical tournaments such as the Fortune Cup and the World Racing Grand Prix were held.

On the floor of the center of the inside stadium itself, there were two rectangular platforms, each one colored light brown with a Duel Field engraved on the floor in white. Around both platforms was some kind of a racetrack, with part of it connecting to a nearby garage. And, like every other stadium in the world, there were rows and rows of bleachers for those who wanted to see the events taking place. And seeing how most of those bleachers were filled with excited people, we could easily tell something excited was about to take place.

Meanwhile, inside the garage mentioned earlier, we see a boy in his early-to-mid-twenties tuning up a Runner of his own.

He had spiky, medium cut blond hair, blue eyes, and had a muscular physique similar to Homanu's. He was dressed from head to toe in a one-piece riding suit that was gold with shoulder pads, kneepads and boots, all of them platinum. He also wore a chrome Wrist Dealer resembling a knight's gauntlet on his right arm, along with a Duel Gazer whose microphone was white and lens was turquoise. Another notable feature was a watch with a platinum band; there was a piece covering the bezel that was the same color as the band, with an octagon-shaped shard of amber inside.

The Runner he was tuning was the same color as his suit, whose hood resembled a unicorn, complete with a horn. His own Runner's Card Zones were platinum. The helmet lying beside him was the same color as both his jumpsuit and Runner, and included a white grill to make it resemble a knight's helmet.

As he kept tuning his Runner, the faint sound of someone else wheeling their Runner caught his attention, and it seemed to keep growing by the second. The 'someone else' who was wheeling their Runner was none other than Mira, who had entered the same garage he was in.

"Ah," the boy spoke in a cocky but authentic English accent, "I see you're my final opponent in the tournament."

"Yep," Mira replied. "And I'm assuming you're Arthur Rutherford, am I correct?"

"That is correct, Miss…um…"

"Oshaki. Mira Oshaki."

"Ah. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Oshaki. I'm sure that I shall find you to be a worthy opponent."

"Likewise, I'm sure."

_You certainly _are_ lucky to duel a professional such as myself,_ Arthur thought. _But I'm afraid it is _I_ who shall be the victor of this tournament. I always have, and I always will!_

Suddenly, the garage door slowly opened as the sounds of the audience cheering, along with traditional ceremony music, entered the garage. Arthur and Mira both stopped what they were doing, fastened on their helmets and climbed upon their Runners, for they knew this was the first sign of the final match getting closer to commencement.

* * *

"Hello, duel fans of Neo Domino!" a brown-haired man in his forties excitedly announced in a comment booth also located in the stadium. He was sitting next to a red-haired man who was about the same age as him. "I'm Jimma, and this here's my pal, Bobba. We are coming to you live from the Memorial Circuit, where we are about to witness the final match of the annual Neo Domino Summer Riding Championship! And it is most _certainly_ a beautiful day for an exciting duel such as this; don't you agree, Bobba?"

"I certainly do, Jimma!" Bobba, the red-haired man, happily replied. "What really excites me is the fact that one of the finalists is England's very own Arthur Rutherford, who has been champion of this tournament for _four years straight_! Just the very thought of him and his dueling skills makes me excited for this tournament even more!"

"And it looks like you'll be getting even _more_ excited, Bobba; for here comes the man who's not only the beloved president of KaibaCorp, but also the arranger of this annual tournament! Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for the one and only…

"_Seto Kaiba!"_

The audience cheered even more as a spotlight shone upon Seto Kaiba—everyone's favorite wealthy, brown-haired, violet-eyed man—who proudly walked down the stairs dressed in a fancy blue Italian suit and carrying a portable microphone in his hand. As soon as he got to the center of one of the Ground Duel platforms, he turned his microphone on an announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's the moment you've all been waiting for! This is the final match of the annual Neo Domino Summer Riding Championship!" The audience cheered even wilder to this.

"So far, we have seen a series of Turbo Duels performed by some of the most talented duelists from all over the world! And after a series of such battles by such duelists, only two remain; but only one of them will be crowned champion of the tournament! The question is: who will that lucky duelist be? You're just in time to find out, as we announce the names of our finalists!

"Our first finalist comes all the way from England, and has been the reigning champion of this tournament for four years straight! And he hopes that today will mark his fifth! Please, put your hands together for…_Arthur Rutherford_!"

The audience cheered even more as smoke blasted in front of the garage, right from the floor. Riding through the smoke was Arthur, with a determined smile crossing his face. After making about one lap around the racetrack, he halted his Runner at the racetrack's starting position.

"His opponent is a girl that comes all the way from the once infamous Satellite. Some people refer to her by titles such as the 'Mistress of Mayhem', the 'Duelist of Darkness' and the 'Heroine of Hell'! Ladies and gentlemen…_Mira Oshaki_!"

The audience continued cheering as more smoke blasted in front of the garage in the same manner as before. Riding through the smoke was Mira Oshaki, who, like Arthur, made a single lap around the stadium before halting her Runner at the same starting position Arthur was at.

"Alright, finalists," Seto directed, "start your Runners!"

Both duelists pressed a button on their Runners, causing both their Duel Field screens and Card Zones to light up. Each screen displayed a virtual copy of a Field Spell Card appearing in the center, from the bottom screen. Its artwork was one of Neo Domino City's Turbo Duel Lanes in the center of a rainbow-colored background. A few seconds later, the screens displayed the duelists' opponents' currently empty Duel Fields. _"Duel Mode engaged,"_ a cybernetic female voice announced as this happened. _"Autopilot standing by."_ A wave of light purple energy flowed out of the Runners and shrouded the entire stadium, exciting the audience even more.

"For those of you who are new to Turbo Duels," Jimma announced, "every Turbo Duel, including this one, will be performed with the Speed World Two Field Spell Card! With this card in play, both players will be gaining one Speed Counter apiece during each and every Standby Phase, starting on the second turn of the duel!"

"Speed Counters are very important in Turbo Duels," Bobba added, "because you're gonna need them to activate 'Speed Spell' Spell Cards! But unlike its predecessor, the original Speed World, neither player will lose any Speed Counters for every one thousand points of damage a player takes. Instead, both duelists will keep their Speed Counters for them to also use one of Speed World Two's three additional abilities!"

"That's right, Bobba! With Speed World Two, a player can remove four of their own Speed Counters to inflict eight hundred points of damage to the opponent for every Speed Spell that player reveals!"

"By removing seven of their Speed Counters, a player can draw an additional card!"

"And by removing ten Speed Counters, a player can destroy any card on the field!"

"I wonder if we'll see any of those additional effects in action, Jimma?"

"One can only hope, Bobba!"

Both duelists pressed a button on the side of their helmets, activating their Duel Gazers' lenses and making them flash for a split second. Everyone else—including the entire audience, Jimma and Bobba, and even Seto Kaiba himself—pressed a button on their Gazers that caused them to do the same. A wave of green digital energy flowed around the dueling area. Virtual screens displaying both duelists' currently empty Duel Fields also popped open in various locations of the bleachers. _"Augmented Reality Vision Link established,"_ the same female voice from earlier spoke as this second process occurred.

Finally, a virtual rectangular screen popped in front of both duelists. It displayed a red light on top of a green light, with the red light currently glowing. Next to the lights, on the right, were ten small, vertical, lit-up rectangles. _"Attention, turbo duelists,"_ the female voice announced, _"ten seconds until Turbo Duel commencement."_ One by one, as the voice announced the countdown, the ten vertical rectangles began to dim.

"_Nine…eight…seven…"_

The decks inside both duelists' Wrist Dealers automatically shuffled.

"…_six…five…four…"_

Both duelists drew five cards apiece and slid them through the hand-holding devices also installed in their Wrist Dealers.

"…_three…two…one…_

"_Duel!"_

"And they're off!" Jimma excitedly announced. No sooner had he said that when the sound of an air horn was heard across the stadium. Almost immediately, both duelists tore off around the racetrack, ready to begin their duel.

"With that, the final match of our annual tournament commences!" Seto Kaiba announced to keep the audience excited. "Just what kinds of moves will we be seeing from our finalists? That, ladies and gentlemen, is what we're about to find out!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the apartment, Homanu and Kero were already downstairs in the living room, watching the final match on their plasma screen television. As Kero had suggested earlier, he and his male friend were wearing their Duel Gazers. Homanu's Gazer's microphone was black while the lens was yellow-orange in the shape of a flame. Kero's Gazer's microphone was white while the lens was red.

"Man, I thought this would _never_ start!" Kero exclaimed. "Now we can finally see Mira totally kick Arthur's _butt_!" Suddenly calming down, he corrected himself, "If she even _can_, anyway…"

"Yeah; remember, she's up against a _professional_, here," Homanu reminded him. "So who _knows_ what she could be up against?"

* * *

_**ARTHUR: 4000 LP / MIRA: 4000 LP  
ARTHUR: 0 SPC / MIRA: 0 SPC**_

"I shall start this duel!" Arthur declared as he drew his card. "I summon my Field-Commander Rahz in Attack Mode!" After slapping a card from his hand onto one of his Runner's Monster Card Zones, a light blue portal appeared beside his Runner. Emerging out of the portal was a medium-length, brown-haired warrior dressed in a red bandana over his forehead, shining silver armor, and a dark blue tattered cape. Upon his appearance, he pulled his sword out of his sheath and shouted out a battle cry. **[ATK: 1600; LV: 4]**

"When I summon Rahz to the field, I'm allowed to take one Level Four or lower Warrior-Type monster in my deck, and place it right on top!" Through his Gazer, he saw rows of the possible cards he could choose from. After pressing his right index finger on the one he desired most—which, to everyone who didn't have a Gazer, was merely him putting a finger on air—the deck inside his Wrist Dealer automatically shuffled.

"I place a card face-down and end my turn!" He took another card from his hand and slid it vertically through the upper slot located underneath his Monster Card Zones. Afterwards, a vertical backing materialized beside his Runner, and then faded away from sight. Mira, however, could see the vertical backing, along with Field-Commander Rahz, on both her Runner's Duel Field screen and through her Gazer. Those cards could also be seen on the screens before the audience.

"It's my turn!" shouted Mira, placing her right hand on her deck's top card. "I draw!" After she quickly drew her card, both duelists' Runners slightly increased in speed.

_**ARTHUR: 1 SPC / MIRA: 1 SPC**_

"I summon my Destiny Hero Devil Guy!" Another light blue portal appeared, this one beside Mira's Runner. Flying out the portal was a warrior clad in demonic attire, complete with black demonic claws, a tattered red cape, and a white, skull-like mask. **[ATK: 0600; LV: 3]**

_A user of Destiny Heroes, I see,_ Arthur murmured in his mind. _I'm almost surprised someone like _her_ has managed to acquire them… Seeing as how people rarely use them these days, becoming champion for five years in a row shouldn't prove to be difficult after all!_

"I activate Devil Guy's ability!" Mira continued. "Since he's in Attack Mode, I can send one of your monsters two turns into the future! _Destiny Road_!" The demonic-costumed hero flew towards the knight and thrust his left claw into the knight's chest. Without warning, the knight found himself being sucked into the great unknown.

"Once I use Devil Guy's ability, I'm not allowed to attack this turn. I'll place two cards face-down, and end my turn!" She slid two cards vertically from her hand into her own Runner's upper slot underneath her Monster Card Zones, and the two vertical backings appeared and disappeared in the same manner as Arthur's.

"'Tis my turn! I draw!" Arthur boldly declared. After quickly drawing his card, both duelists' Runners increased in speed a second time.

_**ARTHUR: 2 SPC / MIRA: 2 SPC**_

"I now call forth the monster I put on top of my deck through the use of Rahz: Heroic Challenger, Spartan!" He took his drawn card and, almost ruthlessly, slapped it onto one of his Runner's Monster Card Zones. Another light blue portal appeared beside his Runner. Out of the portal emerged a warrior dressed in a red cape, and golden gladiator's armor—including a helmet—over his silvery white armor. His main weapons were a sharp-tipped javelin in his right hand and a gold-and-red-colored shield in his left. **[ATK: 1600; LV: 4]**

"Heroic Challenger Spartan, attack Destiny Hero Devil Guy! _Straight Javelin_!" The golden-armored gladiator warrior aimed his javelin towards the demonic-costumed hero and began to rapidly fly towards it.

"I activate the Trap Card, A Hero Emerges!" Mira shouted, quickly stretching her right arm out towards the audience. A card picturing Zombyra the Dark—a purple-suited, skeletal hero clad in a red cape—in a position that pictured his left fist reaching out quickly turned open. "This card only works when you declare an attack. Now you have to pick one card in my hand. If it happens to be a Monster Card, I can Special Summon it to my side of the field, no problem! Otherwise, it goes immediately to my Graveyard!" Through their Gazers, both duelists saw three cards. However, Mira could see her own cards through her Gazer, while Arthur only saw their backings.

"Let's see… I'll pick…this one!" He pressed his right index finger on the middle virtual card. Through Mira's gazer, she could see the middle card flashing.

"Big mistake! The card you picked is a Monster Card—in this case, my Destiny Hero Diehard Guy!" Another blue portal appeared beside her Runner. Out of the portal emerged a muscular, long-orange-haired warrior clad in black rocky thigh-high boots, black shorts, and two large rocky gauntlets. **[ATK: 0800; LV: 3]**

"And to think I was worried you'd summon a monster that was more powerful than _that_! But it makes no difference—I'm still going to attack Devil Guy with Heroic Challenger Spartan!" The golden-armored gladiator warrior continued to fly towards the demonic superhero. When he was close, he thrust his javelin into the hero's chest, shattering him into pixels. The force of the explosion nearly caused Mira to lose control of her Runner. **[LP: 4000 – 3000]**

"Doing so activated my Destiny Signal Trap Card!" Mira shouted as a card picturing a spotlight with a demonic black 'D' in the center over a city of black buildings that resembled the ones used as studio props turned open. The same spotlight appeared high in the sky, and was surprisingly visible even though it was broad daylight.

"Since you've destroyed one of my monsters in battle, I can Special Summon a Level Four or lower Destiny Hero from my hand or deck! Come on out, Destiny Hero Diamond Guy!" Another portal appeared beside her Runner, and a white-haired, purple-suited, dark-green-caped hero flew out of it and knelt defensively. Akin to his name, he had crystals growing out of parts of his body—namely his right leg, knees, arms, and back. He also wore a visor made of crystals. **[DEF: 1600; LV: 4]**

_I guess I underestimated her quite a bit,_ Arthur thought, trying to remain calm as he slid another card into the same slot just below the Card Zones. _But there's no way I'll let this newcomer get in my way of becoming five-time champion!_ "Your skills are impressive, if I do say so, myself. But it'll take more than that to defeat a professional such as myself! I'll end my turn!"

"Then it's my turn!" Mira shouted, quickly drawing her card.

_**ARTHUR: 3 SPC / MIRA: 3 SPC**_

"And let's welcome back Destiny Hero Devil Guy! Go, _Wonder Life_!" A spinning black gear with the same demonic 'D' as the one pictured in Destiny Signal appeared. The gear then turned into a magenta-colored portal, and the demonic-costumed hero emerged from it. **[ATK: 0600; LV: 3]**

"How…how is this possible!?" Arthur demanded.

"Destiny Hero Diehard Guy's ability, of course!" his opponent explained through a virtual screen that popped in front of him, which only he could see. "If one of my Destiny Heroes is destroyed and sent to my Graveyard by battle, Diehard Guy can revive that monster from my Graveyard during my Standby Phase! _That_ was your 'big mistake', in case you're wondering!" Arthur only grumbled, now fully aware of the kind of opponent he was up against.

"And with that said and done, Destiny Hero Devil Guy will activate his ability once again! Say goodbye to Heroic Challenger Spartan! _Destiny Road_!" The demonic-costumed hero flew towards the golden-armored gladiator warrior and thrust his left claw into the gladiator warrior's chest. As with the brown-haired knight, the gladiator warrior found himself to get unwillingly sucked into the great unknown.

"And now I activate Diamond Guy's ability!" The crystals on the diamond-covered hero began to shine. "Once a turn, I can look at the top card of my deck. If it's a Normal Spell Card, it goes right to my Graveyard, but I can activate its effects during my next turn! Otherwise, it goes right on the bottom of my deck! Now, let's see what I've got!"

She quickly drew her deck's top card and looked at it. "Lucky me—it's the Speed Spell known as The End of the Storm! Now it goes right into my Graveyard!" She slid the card in the slot underneath the slot where Spell and Trap Cards would be inserted. She also inserted two more cards from her hand into the slot just above it. "I place two cards face-down and end my turn!"

* * *

"Jeez, Arthur isn't putting up much of a fight, is he?" Kero observed as he and Homanu were watching the duel. "I mean, look—he's just letting his monsters get removed like that! This'll be _easy_ for Mira!"

"A little _too_ easy, perhaps…" Homanu said with concern.

"Whaddya mean by that?"

"From what I've seen from his duels, Arthur likes to let his opponents take the upper hand. But once they do, he manages to go in for the kill! Let's just hope that's not what happens with Mira…!"

* * *

_This wench is _really_ starting to get on my nerves!_ Arthur angrily thought as he drew his card.

_**ARTHUR: 4 SPC / MIRA: 4 SPC**_

_But I'm going to end things right here, right now!_

"I activate the Speed Spell, Angel Baton!" A Spell Card picturing an angel resembling the one pictured on 'Graceful Charity', with an orb of light between her hands, appeared. "Because I have at least two Speed Counters, I'm allowed to draw two cards! But then, I'm forced to discard one from my hand." He quickly drew two extra cards, and then slid one from his hand into the lower slot beneath his Runner's Monster Card Zones.

"Next, I summon Heroic Challenger Double Lance in Attack Mode!" Yet another light blue portal appeared beside his Runner. Out of the portal emerged another gladiator-themed warrior. This one was clad in silvery white armor, and held a sharp-tipped black lance in each hand. **[ATK: 1700; LV: 4]**

"When I summon him, I'm allowed to Special Summon another copy of himself from my hand or my Graveyard! Therefore, I Special Summon another copy of Heroic Challenger Double Lance from my Graveyard!" This time, a dark purple portal appeared beside his Runner, and a copy of the silvery-white-armored gladiator warrior appeared and knelt defensively. When he did, his entire body was shrouded by a light shade of blue. **[DEF: 0900; LV: 4]**

_He must've sent it to his Graveyard with Angel Baton…_ Mira dully thought. _How predictable… But somehow, I'm still worried about what I think he's going to do next…_

"I overlay my two Level Four Double Lances!" Arthur boldly declared. Both of his gladiator warriors transformed into orbs of orange-colored light. The two orbs spiraled into the air and flew into a crimson-colored portal that formed above both duelists.

"With these two monsters, I construct the Overlay Network and Xyz Summon! Now come forth…_HEROIC CHAMPION, EXCALIBUR_!"

Floating down from the portal was a knight-like warrior clad in armor whose main colors were black, red, and a little gold. He also wielded a sword whose golden hilt almost resembled a phoenix's wings. Upon his appearance, two yellow-colored orbs were orbiting around him. **[ATK: 2000; RANK: 4; OLU: 2]**

"And there you have it, folks!" Jimma excitedly announced. "Just when you thought you weren't going to expect any excitement in the final match, Arthur calls out one of his ace cards to the field!"

"Or should I say 'his ace card'!" Bobba corrected his partner. "Think about it—Excalibur is likely the most powerful card in his deck, because it has a very powerful ability!"

"You could be right there, Bobba—how silly of me not to realize that!"

"And for those of you who are new to what Arthur did to summon this monster, it's what is called an 'Xyz Summon'. To Xyz Summon a monster, you simply take two or more monsters whose Levels are the same as the Rank of the Xyz Monster you want to Summon!"

"But instead of sending those monsters to the Graveyard, you place them on top of each other _before_ you Summon the monster—this is called 'overlaying'. And these monsters—now known as 'Overlay Units'—act as 'fuel' for Xyz Monsters, and can be detached when activating Xyz Monsters' effects!"

"I activate Excalibur's special ability!" Arthur declared. "By using both of his Overlay Units, his Attack Points instantly becomes twice his original Attack Points!" Both of the red-armored knight's orbs of light were absorbed into his sword. **[OLU: 2 – 0]** Afterwards, a golden aura began to shroud the knight's entire body. **[ATK: 2000 – 4000]**

"Four thousand Attack Points!" Mira gasped.

"Yes, four thousand Attack Points—that's more than enough to defeat you!" To the knight, he commanded: "Heroic Champion Excalibur, attack Mira's Destiny Hero Devil Guy!" The knight, almost ruthlessly, charged towards the demonic-costumed hero.

"_Cut in Two! Finishing Attack of True Sword!"_

The knight sliced his sword across the demonic-costumed hero's chest, shattering him into pixels. The attack caused an explosion that shrouded Mira.

"It looks like Arthur's done it," Bobba announced. "He's officially become the champion of the Neo Domino Summer Riding Championship for the fifth year in a row!"

"Who'd have thought that he'd acquire that title so easily?" Jimma announced.

"Bobba, he's a _professional_! It shouldn't come as no surprise! …Wait a minute, folks—what's _this_?!"

As the smoke cleared, everyone, including Arthur, were surprised to see that Mira was still in the duel, and that her two remaining heroes were standing. **[LP: 0400]** Clearly, the duel was not over yet.

"But…but…but _how_?!" Arthur demanded. "How could you have saved yourself like that?!"

"Using Destiny Hero Dagger Guy's ability, of course!" Mira replied. A slightly transparent version of a warrior appeared behind Mira. It had long lavender hair and was dressed in a yellow visor, a dark red suit supported by a belt with a golden 'D' for its buckle, and silver armor covering his legs, arms, shoulders, and chest. Each piece of the wrist armor had a blade on both sides, and there was a blade on each shoulder pad. "During your Battle Phase, I can send Dagger Guy from my hand to my Graveyard. By doing so, all Destiny Heroes on my field gain eight hundred Attack Points this turn!"

"So what if I didn't defeat you with Excalibur? I can _still_ defeat you with the first effect of Speed World Two!" Arthur announced as soon as Mira regained control. "By removing four of my Speed Counters, you'll be inflicted with eight hundred points of damage for every Speed Spell that's in my hand! Unfortunately, one is all I have—but one is all I need!" As he shifted gears on his Runner **[SPC: 4 – 0]**, he quickly turned his Runner around in almost a split second. Then, while riding backwards, a golden laser shot out of his Runner's hood and headed straight towards Mira.

"This could be it, folks!" Bobba announced. "Once this attack lands, Arthur will be champion of the Neo Domino Summer Riding Championship for the fifth year in a row!"

"I activate the Trap Card, Energy-Absorbing Monolith!" Mira quickly shouted. A Trap Card picturing a black rectangular tablet with a burst of blue energy shooting through it turned open. "I can activate this card in response to an effect that would inflict me with damage. Now instead of taking damage, I gain Life Points equal to the damage I _would_ have taken!" The same tablet pictured on the card appeared in front of Mira, which the golden laser passed through. Though the laser still struck Mira's shoulder, it didn't hurt as much as she had expected. **[LP: 400 – 1200]**

Arthur just stared at Mira with his eyes wide open and his mouth agape. He could not believe that someone like Mira would be prepared for one of his moves for another time. He angrily turned his Runner back forwards as he continued, "It looks like you've outsmarted me _again_! But don't think you've won just yet—my Excalibur's boost will remain effective until the end of your next turn! Now, make your move!"

"I will!" Mira shouted as she drew.

_**ARTHUR: 1 SPC / MIRA: 5 SPC**_

"And since two turns have been up," Arthur reminded her, "Field-Commander Rahz returns to my field!" Sure enough, the brown-haired knight reappeared next to the red-armored knight. **[ATK: 1600; LV: 4]** "And speaking of which…I'm assuming you're going to revive your Devil Guy with Diehard Guy's ability?"

"Actually, I'm _not_ going to do that!"

"You're _not_?!" the astonished Arthur exclaimed. "Art thou _dense_?! Don't you realize that had you _did_ revive Devil Guy, you would've removed my Excalibur from play through its own ability?!" Calming down, he continued, "Then again, it makes no difference; my deck is _still_ one of the most powerful decks in existence. It always has, and it always will!"

"Is that so? Well, there's one thing you've kind of overlooked: the End of the Storm Speed Spell that's in my Graveyard!" The diamond-covered hero's crystals began to shine as a slightly faded version of the said Spell Card floated up besides Mira. "And thanks to Diamond Guy's ability, I can activate its effect right away!"

"That doesn't scare _me_! I know that card all to well—and you need _ten_ Speed Counters to activate it! Right now, you only have _five_!"

"I know about that. But Diamond Guy activates the card's _effect_, not its _cost_. That means I can still activate this card, no matter what!"

"_No!_" Arthur wailed. No sooner had he said those words when a black hurricane formed around the entire racetrack; the knights and the heroes were doing their very best to fight it.

"With the End of the Storm's effect," Mira said, "all of our monsters will be destroyed, and we will lose three hundred Life Points for every monster destroyed by this effect!" Without warning, both duelists' warriors were shattered into pixels by the hurricane, and the duelists themselves were trying to withstand the force of the explosion. **[LP: 4000 – 3400]** **[LP: 1200 – 0600]** They managed to regain control as the storm quickly died down.

"If you thought you could outsmart me _again_ by pulling a stunt like that, you're sadly mistaken!" Arthur shouted. "At this moment, I activate the Trap Card, Xyz Reborn!" A Trap Card picturing a light gold artifact with four pairs of wings appeared. "This card immediately revives Heroic Champion Excalibur from my Graveyard! Plus, this card instantly becomes attached to it as an Overlay Unit!" Another dark purple portal appeared beside his Runner, and the red-armored knight reappeared from it. Afterwards, the activated Trap Card transformed into a yellow orb of light as it orbited around the knight. **[ATK: 2000; RANK: 4; OLU: 1]** "So much for _that_ trick!"

"Actually, my 'trick' was something I wanted to do!" Mira said. This left Arthur bewildered. "I activate the Trap Card, Dread Ritual!" A Trap Card picturing the silhouette of a muscular, long-haired hero with broken chains attached to his wrists turned open. The card also pictured both the diamond-covered hero and the orange-haired muscular hero in front of the silhouette. "This card only works when at least two of my Destiny Heroes are destroyed and sent to my Graveyard during the same turn. Now I can Special Summon my ultimate weapon!"

A shadowy portal appeared above both duelists. Dropping down from the portal was the same muscular warrior pictured on the card Mira just activated. The warrior had long gray hair and broken shackles attached to his wrists and ankles. He also wore purple shorts held up with twine, a necklace with a rusty gold lock that had a 'D' carved on it, and an iron grill on his face. His landing caused the ground to shake as he let out an intimidating scream. **[ATK: ?; LV: 8]** Afterwards, he appeared to be leaping beside Mira as if he was trying to catch up.

"Dread Guy's effect now activates! When he's summoned, all monsters on my field that aren't Destiny Heroes are destroyed; but then, I can Special Summon two more from my Graveyard!"

"You can't do that!" Arthur shouted. "It hasn't been summoned by the effect of Clock Tower Prison, which is _impossible_ to activate in Turbo Duels such as this!"

"Normally, that _would_ be the case. But thanks to Dread Ritual, Dread Guy's summon is automatically treated as one by Clock Tower Prison! With that said and done, I revive Destiny Heroes Diamond Guy and Diehard Guy!" Two more dark purple portals appeared next to the muscular chained hero. Out of one portal reappeared the diamond-covered hero and the orange-haired muscular hero. **[ATK: 1400; LV 4] [ATK: 0800; LV: 3]**

"And thanks to his other ability, Dread Guy's Attack and Defense Points are equal to the combined original Attack Points of all other Destiny Heroes on my field!" A sinister violet aura shrouded the muscular chained hero. **[ATK: ? – 2200]**

"There's still one more trick left up my sleeve: The Speed Storm Speed Spell!" A Spell Card picturing two tornadoes surrounded by lightning in the background of Speed World materialized. "Because I have at least three Speed Counters, this card inflicts you with one thousand points of damage!" One of the same electrical tornadoes pictured on the card shot out and struck at Arthur's shoulder. **[LP: 3400 – 2400]**

_No…I'm done for!_ Arthur panicked in his mind, staring at the details of Dread Guy through his Duel Gazer. _During the turn Dread Guy's Special Summoned, none of her Destiny Heroes can be destroyed by battle or by effects! That means I can't use my Mirror Force to destroy all of her monsters! In turn, that means…_I lose_!_

"This duel's over!" Mira announced. "Destiny Hero Dread Guy, attack Heroic Champion Excalibur! _Predator of Dreadnought_!" The muscular chained hero leapt up and swung his fists at the red-armored knight, shattering him into pixels. **[LP: 2400 – 2200]**

"Destiny Heroes Diamond Guy and Diehard Guy, attack him directly and finish this duel! _Diamond Blow_ and _Death Boer Fiat_!" The diamond-covered hero shot a barrage of diamond shards directly at Arthur while the muscular orange-haired hero shot a burst of dark energy from the shells attached to his wrists. Both heroes struck directly at Arthur, resulting in an explosion on his field. The force of the explosion resulted in Arthur greatly losing control of his Runner. **[LP: 2200 – 0000]** As soon as all of his Life Points were depleted, a crimson-colored 'DEFEAT' began flashing on his Runner's Duel Screen as steam began to come out of it. After a virtual screen displaying Mira's face with 'WIN' written underneath in gold popped open, the same wave of green digital energy that occurred when the duel commenced occurred again, causing the virtual screens to fade away.

"And the winner of the duel—who, from this day forward, will be crowned the newest champion of the Neo Domino Summer Riding Championship…_MIRA OSHAKI_!" Seto dramatically announced. Even as he made the announcement, the audience was cheering and whistling at their wildest.

* * *

At the apartment, Homanu and Kero were just as excited over Mira's victory.

"I can't believe it!" the amazed Homanu said. "She…she actually beat a professional like Arthur!"

"SHE _WON_!" Kero cheered, repeatedly making rapid punching moves out of complete excitement. "SHE WON! SHE WON! SHE WON! SHE WON! SHE-" He accidentally punched his right fist at a nearby wall, causing him to grasp it as tears trickled down his whimpering face. Homanu only sighed in embarrassment.

* * *

Back at the Memorial Circuit, Mira halted her Runner on the racetrack, climbed off of it, and then walked up to meet Seto on one of the Ground Duel platforms. "Mira Oshaki," he said solemnly, "as new champion of our annual summer tournament, I hereby award you with this medal signifying your newest title!" He placed around her neck a golden medal with a carving of his famous Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the front, with a blue ribbon attached to it. The two then waved at the crowd with proud smiles on their faces. Everyone was truly happy about what they just witnessed.

Everyone except Arthur, that is.

_How…_ he angrily thought as he enviously stared at the waving victor. _How could some…some _newcomer_ such as Mira defeat a champion such as myself?! How could she easily ruin my one chance at becoming the champion of this tournament for the fifth year in a row?! …Wait a minute; perhaps it is _I_ who is at fault. A true professional like the great Yugi Muto _always_ observed his opponent's deck and tactics before he actually faced off against them in tournaments like this! How could I have not done the same?!_

_Mark my words, Mira Oshaki; we _will_ duel again someday. And when we do, I _will_ be ready!_

* * *

**FEATURED CARD – CHRONICLE 001**

**Destiny Hero Dread Guy  
**DARK/Warrior – Effect/8/?/?  
If this card was Special Summoned by "Clock Tower Prison", destroy all monsters you control (except for face-up "Destiny Hero" monsters), then you can Special Summon up to 2 "Destiny Hero" monsters from your Graveyard. During the turn this card is Special Summoned, "Destiny Hero" monsters you control cannot be destroyed, and you take no battle damage when they battle. The ATK and DEF of this card are equal to the combined original ATK of all other "Destiny Hero" monsters you control.

* * *

**EXCLUSIVE CARDS**

**Speed World 2  
**Spell/Field  
If a player activates a non-"Speed Spell" Spell Card, they take 2000 damage. Except during the 1st turn of the Duel, during each player's Standby Phase, each player places 1 Speed Counter of their own on this card (max. 12 each).  
You can remove any number of your Speed Counters from this card to activate an appropriate effect:  
●4: Reveal any number of "Speed Spell" Spell Cards in your hand, and inflict 800 damage to your opponent for each card revealed.  
●7: Draw 1 card.  
●10: Destroy 1 card on the field.  
_Image: One of Neo Domino City's Turbo Duel Lanes in the center of a rainbow-colored background  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime – Episode 65 – A New Threat_

**Speed Spell – The End of the Storm  
**Spell/Normal  
Activate only while you have 10 or more Speed Counters.  
Destroy all monsters on the field and inflict 300 damage to each player for each of their destroyed monsters.  
_Image: A cloaked skeletal figure resembling Nightshroud from _Yu-Gi-Oh! GX_ in a stormy red background  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime – Episode 5 – Clashing Ace Dragons! Stardust VS Red Demons_

**Speed Spell – Angel Baton  
**Spell/Normal  
Activate only while you have 2 or more Speed Counters.  
Draw 2 cards. Then, send 1 card from your hand to the Graveyard.  
_Image: An angel bearing resemblance to the one pictured on "Graceful Charity", with an orb of light between her hands  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime – Episode SP1 – Evolving Duel! Stardust VS Red Demons_

**Dread Ritual  
**Trap/Normal  
Activate only during a turn 2 or more face-up "Destiny Hero" monsters you control were destroyed (either by battle, by card effect, or by being destroyed) and sent to the Graveyard. Special Summon 1 "Destiny Hero – Dread Guy" from your hand or Deck. (This is treated as a Special Summon by "Clock Tower Prison".)  
_Image: A silhouette of "Destiny Hero – Dread Guy" raising his fists in the air, with Destiny Heroes Diehard Guy and Diamond Guy in front of him  
Origination: Psychid_

**Speed Spell – Speed Storm  
**Spell/Normal  
Activate only while you have 3 or more Speed Counters.  
Inflict 1000 damage to your opponent. During your Standby Phase, if this card is in your Graveyard, you can remove 3 of your Speed Counters to add this card from your Graveyard to your hand.  
_Image: Two tornadoes surrounded by electricity flying in the background of Speed World  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's anime – Episode 75 – Aki Izayoi, Acceleration!_

* * *

**Next time, on **_**Yu-Gi-Oh! EXELIXI**_**…**

**A dethroned duelist swears revenge against his victor!**

"Uh…Lancelot?" the slightly worried Gawain asked his partner. "Is Arthur, like, going through one of his phases again?"

"I'm afraid he might be…" Lancelot replied, shaking his head in disbelief. To Arthur, he said, "Arthur, I understand that at times you have a thirst for vengeance, and I respect that. But if you truly _were_ to get your revenge against this 'wench', how exactly are you going to get her to duel you again?"

"I don't know," Arthur replied. "But once I find that opportunity, I won't rest until I defeat Mira Oshaki once and for all!"

**Meanwhile, Mira and her friends are having a fun time celebrating! That is, until a trio of female thugs spoil it!**

"HEY, YOU BASTARDS!" Homanu shouted at the thugs. This indeed caught their attention and they turned towards him and his friends. "What the hell do you think you're _doing_?!"

"C'mon, now," the yellow-haired thug said in a squeaky voice. "Is _that_ the way to treat us ladies?"

"That's not the kind of word I'd use to describe you…"

**Now Mira has to duel the leader to save the life of a distressed elder, or lose her entire deck trying!**

"If you're really that eager," the yellow-haired thug taunted, "then you'll have to duel Hawk right here!" With her thumb, she pointed to the red-violet-haired girl. "She's the one who calls the shots, after all!"

"Fine! Then Hawk, it's time to duel!"

"And what makes you think I'm gonna duel _you_?" Hawk sternly asked. "You're not strong enough!"

"'Not strong enough'? What does she mean by _that_?" Kero wondered.

"What I mean is that I want to duel someone who's as strong as _I_ am. And there's only one person who fits the bills—_Mira Oshaki_!" Almost ruthlessly, she pointed at the perplexed Mira.

"And why do you want to duel _me_? How do you even know I'm as strong as you?"

"Are you _kidding_? The whole town's _crazy_ about you beating someone as strong as Arthur! So it's _obvious_ you're as strong as I am! And don't think I'm scared about what's in your deck!"

"And what if I refuse?"

"I was expecting you'd say that. So why don't we make things a little more interesting? If you win, then I'll leave granny here alone. But if _I_ win—and I will—then your entire deck is mine! If you don't agree to the bet soon, Granny's gonna get it!" Each of her goons grabbed the elderly woman by the arm.

"Fine—let's duel!"

**But when Mira's opponent has a powerful deck used by someone else before, she'll be in for one of the biggest duels of her life!**

_Oh my _God_!_ the astonished Homanu thought. _I _knew_ Hawk's monsters looked familiar!_ "Mira!" he warned her. "She's using the same cards used by Crow Hogan!"

"She _is_?!" Mira said back.

**Can Mira win the duel and rescue this woman? Or will it all be for the birds?**

**Stay tuned for the next Chronicle: "Icarus Attack"!**


	2. Icarus Attack

Remember in chapter one when I said I'll be using the OCG's Forbidden/Limited Lists for February 2014? Well, now that the OCG's Lists for April 2014 have been revealed, I'll be following those Lists, instead. Luckily for me, I don't believe I've used any cards that have been added to those Lists (not ones that have exceeded how many can be in Main Decks, Side Decks, or Extra Decks, anyway).

Before I forget, another series of cards I will **not** include in this story are the Phantasm Dragon-Type monsters (a.k.a. "Genryu" monsters, though the name is not one hundred percent confirmed as of yet) to be introduced in "The Duelist Advent". To be honest, when I first discovered them, I thought I would get away with using this new Type in this story; but the idea was suddenly scrapped because my beta-reader and I would assume that using them would be disrespectful to the "Yu-Gi-Oh!" anime canon up to "ZEXAL".

Another thing I'd like to point out to those of you who have fondly remembered this story's previous versions before they were deleted: You'll be seeing a familiar character using a familiar deck, again; and yes, she'll be saying that one overused quote from _Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series_. For those of you who are tired of hearing jokes like that like there's no tomorrow: I promise you that once you see that joke, you'll never see it throughout the story again.

Enjoy chapter two, everyone!

* * *

As Neo Domino City's annual summer tournament came to a close, everyone that attended the final match left the Memorial Circuit to head on home. Among those people was none other than Mira Oshaki, a.k.a. the tournament's newly crowned champion. She had just wheeled her Runner out of the stadium, and was now fastening on her helmet. She was about to climb upon her Runner when a familiar voice caught her attention. "Miss Oshaki, wait!" The voice belonged to none other than former four-time champion, Arthur Rutherford. He was trying to catch up to her while wheeling his Runner out of the stadium. When he finally did, he was inhaling and exhaling repeatedly and almost heavily.

"Arthur?" Mira said. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to…_congratulate_ you on your victory. It was a rather…_enjoyable_ experience." Mira could sense his fake smile as he said those words, but decided not to comment.

"Um…thanks, I think… You know, you weren't so bad, yourself. I hope we get to duel again sometime."

"Likewise, I'm sure…" No sooner had he said those words when a black limousine pulled up to Arthur, with a small white tow truck following behind. The drivers of the tow truck got out and attached Arthur's Runner to it.

"And this is where I bid adieu, Miss Oshaki," Arthur announced as he got inside the far back of the limousine. The window of the door he entered slid down as he continued, "I hope we get to duel again sometime in the future."

"Bye."

Arthur's window slid back up as the limo pulled out of the curb. The tow truck drivers quickly got back into the truck and began following the limousine. Afterwards, Mira picked up where she left off: Climbing upon her Runner, starting its engines, and heading on home.

* * *

**CHRONICLE 002  
ICARUS ATTACK**

* * *

Arthur wasn't riding in his limousine alone. Sitting across from him were two boys around the same age as him. They were his friends and teammates, Gawain Cleese and Lancelot Cunningham.

Gawain had short brown hair and gray eyes, and had a muscular physique. He wore a one-piece riding suit that was exactly like Arthur's, only his was colored bronze. Lancelot had long silver hair and deep violet eyes, along with a more slender physique. He also wore a one-piece riding suit like the others, only his was silver.

"Yo, Arthur!" Gawain optimistically spoke in an accent that was a combination of the 'dimwitted lackey' and 'party guy' stereotypes. "I, like, totally can't wait to hear about your duel today! Didja, like, totally manage to be champion for, like, the fifth time in a row?"

"Gawain, _please_!" Lancelot scolded his partner using his natural English accent. "For once, could you talk like a _normal_ human being?" Turning to Arthur, he continued, "Now, Arthur, do tell us—did you, indeed, successfully manage to become five-time champion?"

"I didn't…" Arthur said coldly. "I lost…"

"Like, _bummer_, man!" Gawain cried, slapping his forehead.

"I cannot believe this!" Arthur ranted, clenching his fists. "I have been victor of this annual tournament for _four years straight_! And just when I was about to become victor for the _fifth_ time in a row, this…this _wench_ comes along and breaks my streak!" Calming down, he continued, "…And yet it is clearly my own fault."

"Like, how so?"

"Neither of you are going to believe me, but she actually has a deck of Destiny Heroes—the same cards used by Aster Phoenix himself! I don't know if she has Dogma Guy, Bloo-D or Destiny End Dragoon; but I should've remembered what the cards she used did, fully!"

"I'm sorry to hear that you didn't win," Lancelot comforted him. "But what matters is that you've tried your best, and that your opponent had skills that were equal in your greatness."

"Equal in _my_ greatness?! I won't accept that! A wench like her can _never_ be equal in my greatness, even if she _does_ have such valuable cards! And one day, I will make sure that she regrets the day she defeated me!"

"Uh…Lancelot?" the slightly worried Gawain asked his partner. "Is Arthur, like, going through one of his phases again?"

"I'm afraid he might be…" Lancelot replied, shaking his head in disbelief. To Arthur, he said, "Arthur, I understand that at times you have a thirst for vengeance, and I respect that. But if you truly _were_ to get your revenge against this 'wench', how exactly are you going to get her to duel you again?"

"I don't know," Arthur replied. "But once I find that opportunity, I won't rest until I defeat Mira Oshaki once and for all!"

* * *

Elsewhere, Mira had just arrived at her apartment in Satellite and was wheeling her Runner inside her garage, placing her helmet on the shelf. As soon as she entered the living room, she was greeted by her excited friends; Kero blew on a green party horn as loudly as he could. "Welcome home, champ!" they cheered.

"Thanks, guys," the smiling Mira said, slightly blushing. She then noticed some bandages wrapped around the knuckles of Kero's right hand. "Um…what happened while I was gone?"

"Don't ask," Kero groaned, suddenly frowning. "Just be thankful that I'm a leftie!" He raised the left hand that held his party horn as he said this.

"So, I see you got a medal," Homanu said, pointing to the medal given to her by Seto, which she was still wearing around her neck.

"I did," she replied as she took it off her neck, "but I couldn't have gotten it without you guys."

"But…we didn't do much…" the confused Kero said.

"Trust me, you did. You supported me all the way, even when you weren't there with me. Without your confidence and faith in me, there was no way I would've been able to beat Arthur like that!"

Without warning, Kero's eyes welled up with tears as he began to sniffle. "So…so heartwarming…!" Homanu only playfully rolled his eyes. Meanwhile, Mira grabbed a nearby nail, hammered it over a picture of herself and her friends, and hung the medal on the nail. "This'll symbolize our undying friendship."

"Glad to hear," said Homanu. "Now how about we go celebrate at Café La Green? I hear they're having a sale on their Red-Eyes sandwiches!"

"Ooh, count me in!" squealed Kero.

"Let's go, guys!" Mira declared.

She and her friends headed to the garage where the two Duel Runners were located. You all know what Mira's Duel Runner looked like, so let me tell you everything you need to know about the other one. Its main color was crimson with yellow-orange Monster Card Zones, and it had frills at the end that resembled flames. This was Homanu's Runner, since he picked up his crimson helmet, placed it on his head, and pressed a button that caused a clear-tinted visor to slide down. Kero picked up his own helmet that was white with a red stripe in the middle, fastened it on his head, and slid his own clear-tinted visor down in the same manner. Afterwards, he climbed upon Homanu's back and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist.

"I know I've said it plenty of times before," Kero said rather dreamingly, "but I sure wish _I_ could have a Duel Runner like you guys—that would be _so awesome_, don't you think?"

"It does, but we'll see if you get one or not," Homanu said, shifting gears on his Runner. After the garage door opened, the three friends rode off to Neo Domino City.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the gang had arrived at the famous Café La Green, and were now helping themselves to the restaurant's Red-Eyes sandwiches—sandwiches comprised of black forest ham, lettuce and ketchup, in between two slices of pumpernickel bread—just as Homanu suggested.

"Homanu, this was a _great_ idea!" Kero said with a mouthful of the sandwich. "These Red-Eyes sandwiches are some of the _best_ things I've ever had in my life!"

"I'm glad you enjoy them," Homanu said, "but did you really need to order _four whole sandwiches_ for yourself?"

Kero looked down and indeed saw the three sandwiches on his plate; he was holding part of the fourth and chewing the other part. "What? I don't have a problem!"

"Yo, champ! Didn't think I'd see you here!" The voice belonged to a girl who was about two years younger than Mira. She had long red-orange hair and blue eyes. She appeared to be a waitress at the restaurant, as she was dressed in a white, puffy-sleeved corset underneath a black apron, complete with a bow tie that was the same color as the apron. She spoke with a 'valley girl' accent.

"Oh; hi, Emiko!" Mira spoke. "Just thought we'd stop here to celebrate!"

"Don't blame ya!" Emiko complimented. "Trust me—your victory over Arthur is spreading across Neo Domino like _wildfire_! You could be, like, a dueling _legend_!"

"Oh, I don't think I'd go _that_ far-"

"No! Please, let me be!" the scream of an elderly woman was heard from somewhere across the street.

"Not on your life, bitch!" the shouting of a younger female was also heard. "Not unless you pay up!"

"What was _that_?!" Mira cried.

"Someone who's in trouble, that's what!" Homanu said, quickly jumping out of his seat. "C'mon, let's go!" He ran across the street, not caring about any cars that nearly ran into him.

"That Homanu…he's off to be 'Mr. Hero' again, ain't he?" Emiko sighed.

"Afraid so," Mira said, standing up from her seat. "Bill us the check—we have to see what's going on!" She, too, ran across the street to follow Homanu.

"Wait up!" Kero called with his mouth still full of food. He picked up his sandwiches and held them tightly in his arms as he tried to keep up with his friends.

* * *

In a few seconds' time, the three friends arrived at the street across from the café, only to see a rather appalling sight. Three female teenage thugs were assaulting a helpless elderly woman.

The first of the thugs had spiky yellow hair with red streaks and blue eyes, and wore a Duel Gazer with a black microphone and yellow-tinted lens, a red riding jacket over a white midriff, a plaid riding skirt, gray nylon stockings and black riding boots. The second had medium-length red-brown hair and light brown eyes, and wore brown lipstick, a Duel Gazer with a black microphone and lime-tinted lens, a black T-shirt, blue riding pants and turquoise riding boots. The third had red-violet hair fashioned in a spiky ponytail and dark green eyes, and wore a Duel Gazer with a black microphone and orange-tinted lens, a black riding jacket over a small white tube top, gray riding pants and white riding boots. All of their Duel Gazers' lenses were in the shape of a bird's quill.

The elderly woman they were assaulting had long, faint red hair with patches of white in it. She was wearing a dark red coat over a white blouse, as well as black women's shoes. She also carried a magenta parcel. Unlike the thugs, she didn't have a Duel Gazer on her face.

"HEY, YOU BASTARDS!" Homanu shouted at the thugs. This indeed caught their attention and they turned towards him and his friends. "What the hell do you think you're _doing_?!"

"C'mon, now," the yellow-haired thug said in a squeaky voice. "Is _that_ the way to treat us ladies?"

"That's not the kind of word I'd use to describe you…"

"We happened to be running low on cash," the red-brown-haired one spoke in a Boston accent. "So we were hoping that Granny over here would be willing to give us some extra greenbacks! However, she didn't comply—so I guess we had no choice but to do things the hard way!"

"Am I the only one who thinks this kind of thing's been done before?" Kero asked as he took another bite from the sandwich he started eating.

"You assholes…I'll never forgive you!" Homanu shouted, taking a red-orange rectangular box attached to his belt and placing it on his left wrist. "Let's have a duel—right here, right now!"

"If you're really that eager," the yellow-haired thug taunted, "then you'll have to duel Hawk right here!" With her thumb, she pointed to the red-violet-haired girl. "She's the one who calls the shots, after all!"

"Fine! Then Hawk, it's time to duel!"

"And what makes you think I'm gonna duel _you_?" Hawk sternly asked. "You're not strong enough!"

"'Not strong enough'? What does she mean by _that_?" Kero wondered.

"What I mean is that I want to duel someone who's as strong as _I_ am. And there's only one person who fits the bills—_Mira Oshaki_!" Almost ruthlessly, she pointed at the perplexed Mira.

"And why do you want to duel _me_? How do you even know I'm as strong as you?"

"Are you _kidding_? The whole town's _crazy_ about you beating someone as strong as Arthur! So it's _obvious_ you're as strong as I am! And don't think I'm scared about what's in your deck!"

"And what if I refuse?"

"I was expecting you'd say that. So why don't we make things a little more interesting? If you win, then I'll leave granny here alone. But if _I_ win—and I will—then your entire deck is mine! If you don't agree to the bet soon, Granny's gonna get it!" Each of her goons grabbed the elderly woman by the arm.

"Fine—let's duel!"

After fastening her Duel Gazer to the left side of her face, Mira detached one of three black rectangular-box-like devices attached to her belt. It was one in which her deck was tucked inside; this she attached to the side of her left wrist. She then took the second box-like device with a single slot on the edge and placed it on top of the device that held her deck. This was her Graveyard Zone. Finally, she took a tablet-like object that was the same color as the other two devices, and placed it on top of the Graveyard Zone. When she was done, she pressed a button on the tablet-like object, and a single panel instantly materialized. This was the Disk itself; in her case, Mira's Disk was black with five purple-colored Monster Card Zones. It was also in the shape of a bat's wing. Also attached to her belt was a black case that stored the Extra Deck.

Now it was Hawk's turn. She constructed her own Duel Disk in the same manner as Mira. The only differences were that Hawk's parts to construct it were dark gray, and the Disk itself consisted of five small sharp-edged blades, each with an orange-colored Monster Card Zone.

After Homanu and Kero fastened their own Duel Gazers on the left sides of their faces, everyone pressed a button on the side of their Gazers, causing the lenses to flash for a split second. _"Augmented Reality Vision Link established,"_ the same female voice from the previous chapter announced as the wave of green energy, also introduced in the previous chapter, flowed around the dueling area. The virtual screens displaying the players' currently empty fields also popped open in various locations of the duel area.

Both duelists then drew five cards apiece.

"_Let's duel!"_ they shouted out.

_**MIRA: 4000 LP / HAWK: 4000 LP**_

"People who _aren't_ total assholes go first!" Mira declared as she drew her deck's top card. "I summon Destiny Hero Diamond Guy in Attack Mode!" A light blue portal appeared beside Mira on the floor, and the purple-suited, crystal-covered hero floated up from it. **[ATK: 1400; LV: 4]**

"I activate Diamond Guy's ability! Once a turn, I can look at the top card of my deck. If it's a Normal Spell Card, it immediately goes to my Graveyard, and I'm allowed to activate its effects during my next turn! Otherwise, it goes right to the bottom of my deck." The hero's crystals began to shine as Mira picked up her deck's top card. "Luckily for me, the top card is a Normal Spell—Destiny Draw, to be exact! Now it goes right into my Graveyard!" She slid the card she just picked up into the Graveyard slot of her Disk.

"I'll place two cards face-down, and end my turn!" She slid two cards vertically into a slot located on the side of the tablet with the Graveyard slot. Two vertical backings then materialized behind the crystal-covered hero.

_I don't know what kind of deck Hawk has, so the best thing to do is to try and defend myself as much as I can._ She looked at the two vertical backings on her own side of the field. _When Hawk attacks my Diamond Guy, I'll activate my D-Shield Trap Card. Not only will it switch Diamond Guy into Defense Mode, but my Trap will also become an Equip Card that'll prevent Diamond Guy from being destroyed in battle._

_But even if she finds a way to destroy D-Shield, there's my other Trap Card, Destiny Signal. When one of my monsters is destroyed in battle, I'll be able to Special Summon another Destiny Hero to back me up!_

Looking up at her opponent, she said aloud, "Okay, Hawk! Let's see what you've got!"

"It'll be a _pleasure_!" Hawk shouted as she drew her card. "And we're in a hurry to get some extra cash, so I'm gonna end this duel right on the spot!

"I summon Blackwing Sirocco the Dawn, Blackwing Bora the Spear and Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind!"

She immediately took three cards from her hand and, within a single swipe, slapped them onto three of her Disk's Monster Card Zones. Three light blue portals appeared on her floor, and three birdlike creatures swooped out of them.

The first of the three was a bird humanoid that had forest green feathers on its wings and tail, a blue-feathered crest, and wore a black demonic breastplate with red lining decorated on it. **[ATK: 2000; LV: 5]** The second of the three was another bird humanoid, this one with dark purple feathers on its wings and tail, an orange-feathered crest, and wielded a black drill-like spear. **[ATK: 1700; LV: 4]** The third was a small bird creature with a purple-feathered body, a yellow face surrounded by a green-feathered crest, and a tuft of white hair under its chin. **[ATK: 1300; LV: 3]**

Mira, her friends, and the assaulted woman were aghast at how Hawk managed to summon three monsters within a single move. "Wait a minute, did you just summon a bunch of monsters in one turn?!" Mira cried.

"Yeah; so?" Hawk said snootily.

"That's…that's against the rules, isn't it?"

"Oh, don't get your panties in a knot. It may not look like I'm playing by the rules, but I am! Allow me to explain:

"Since you have a monster but I have none, I'm allowed to summon Sirocco the Dawn without making any sacrifices. And since I have a Blackwing on my field, I'm allowed to Special Summon Bora the Spear from my hand. And that goes the same for Gale the Whirlwind!

"And speaking of which, I activate Gale the Whirlwind's special ability! Once a turn, it can halve the Attack and Defense Points of one monster on your field!" The small bird creature rapidly flapped its wings, creating a hurricane that struck at the crystal-covered hero. The hero pulled his tattered cape up to his face in attempts to fight against the wind. **[ATK: 1400 – 0700; LV: 4]**

"Next, I activate the effect of Sirocco the Dawn! Once a turn, one of my Blackwings can gain Attack Points equal to the combined Attack Points of all other Blackwings on the field! Bora the Spear, power up!" A white glowing rope formed in the breastplate-wearing bird humanoid's hands, as did one in the small bird creature's talons. Both birds flew around the spear-wielding bird humanoid; but they didn't seem to restrain it, but rather strengthen it. And surely enough, the spear-wielding bird humanoid grew nearly twice its size. **[ATK: 1700 – 5000; LV: 4]**

"Five thousand Attack Points?!" Kero cried. "Oh, man, Mira's in trouble _now_!"

"Don't lose hope, Kero!" Homanu said. "I'm sure those two face-downs will help Mira, somehow!"

"Errt, you guessed wrong!" Hawk shouted, giving Homanu a thumbs-down. "I just so happen to have the icing on the cake right in my hand: Delta Crow, Anti-Reverse!" She ruthlessly swiped another card from her hand into her own Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. A Trap Card picturing a yellow explosion with rubble flying in the air materialized. Above the explosion were three silhouettes of different bird-like creatures. "This card destroys every one of your face-down Spell and Trap Cards!"

"But that's a Trap Card!" Mira shouted. "You can't activate Trap Cards right from your hand!"

"Oh, I most certainly can with _this_ one; _especially_ since I have exactly three Blackwings on my side of the field! Now, say goodbye to your face-down cards!" A strong gust of black wind shot out of the newly activated card and blew towards Mira's two vertical card backings, which were blown up into the air. Her two backings—obviously D-Shield and Destiny Signal—were shattered into pixels by the wind before it finally calmed down.

_Why does Hawk's moves and deck seem so familiar…?_ Homanu wondered.

"I can't say it was fun while it lasted," said Hawk, "but it's time I end this duel! Blackwing Bora the Spear, attack Destiny Hero Diamond Guy and end this duel!" The spear-wielding bird humanoid flew up into the air and began skyrocketing down towards the crystal-covered hero.

"_DEATH SPIRAL!"_

The spear-wielding bird humanoid eventually struck at the crystal-covered hero. The result was a massive explosion on Mira's field, with smoke completely covering it afterwards.

"Mira…she lost!" Kero wailed.

"And to think your friend became champion of this tournament!" the yellow-haired thug scoffed.

"If you don't mind, we'll be taking Granny's money and get going!" the red-brown-haired thug declared.

"Not on your life, you won't!" Mira said from the smoke. As the smoke cleared, everyone was surprised to see that Mira was still standing. **[LP: 0500]**

"_YOU'RE STILL STANDING?!"_ Hawk shrieked. "But…but my Bora the Spear's Attack Points were five thousand! A-a-and I made your Diamond Guy's Attack Points seven hundred! Th-the difference in Attack Points was more than your Life Points! _I destroyed both of your face-down, even_!"

"You've gotten three of those four right," her opponent remarked. "But lucky for point number two, I discarded Destiny Hero Dagger Guy, right in time!" A faintly transparent image of the blade-equipped hero appeared behind her. "During your Battle Phase, I can send Dagger Guy from my hand to my Graveyard. By doing so, all Destiny Heroes on my field gain eight hundred Attack Points this turn!"

Hawk was seething at the fact her chance of winning this quickly had ultimately failed. She then took a deep breath as she calmly took a card from her hand and slid it vertically into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. After a vertical backing materialized behind her three birds, the Attack Points of the one with the drill-like spear returned to normal. **[ATK: 5000 – 1700; LV: 4]** "So what if I didn't destroy you in one turn? I'm _still_ the one with the upper hand! You _barely_ have any Life Points left, while _I_ still have _all_ of them! And then there are my three precious Blackwings you have to worry about!"

_Like I didn't know _that_!_ the irritated Mira thought. _But she's right; I _do_ have to worry about those birds she has, along with any others she may have! If I don't draw something good, I'm a goner!_

"Okay, Hawk, it's my turn!" she said aloud as she drew. "And I'll activate the effect of Destiny Draw in my Graveyard!" A faded image of a Spell Card picturing a gray-suited hand sending a Destiny Hero Dagger Guy into an Academy Disk's Graveyard appeared behind her. "With it, I'm allowed to draw two cards! And thanks to Diamond Guy's ability, I can do it without discarding a Destiny Hero, first!" As the Spell Card faded away, she drew two extra cards. _Yes! These are exactly the cards I need!_

"I activate the Field Spell Card, Clock Tower Prison!"

A hidden slot slid open from underneath her Graveyard slot. She placed on the slot's Card Zone a Spell Card picturing a giant clock tower resembling the one in the Palace of Westminster. Its hands were pointing at ten o'clock. After the slot closed up, the entire dueling area transformed into an old English prison with the same clock tower on the card, now behind Mira. The only difference was that the clock's hands were both upright, indicating it was twelve o'clock.

"During each of your Standby Phases, this card will gain one Clock Counter. And while there are four on this card, I take no battle damage!"

"But that means you'll have to wait until four of _my_ turns have passed!" Hawk tauntingly reminded her. And by the looks of things, there's _no way_ it's gonna happen!"

"Guess I'll have to speed things up by summoning Destiny Hero Dread Servant in Attack Mode!" A warrior clad in gray knight's armor appeared. He also wore a tattered green cape, wielded a silver knight's scepter in his right hand, had a bronze blade-like object attached to his right gauntlet, and had braids in his hair. **[ATK: 0400; LV: 3]**

"When I summon my Dread Servant, Clock Tower Prison instantly gains one Clock Counter!" The clock's hands turned clockwise until they pointed at three o'clock. Afterwards, the bell slowly rang three times.

"Oh, wow—it's three o'clock, and all _still_ ain't well…for _you_!" Hawk continued her taunting.

"Man, does she _ever_ give anyone a break?" Kero complained.

"I hear you, Kero," Homanu added. "And I know I shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, but something tells me she likes to put her money where her mouth is…"

"Ignoring that comment," Mira resumed, "I activate the Spell Card, Double Summon!" She took another card from her hand and swiped it into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. A Spell Card picturing a black-robed magician casting magic upon a Gazelle, the King of Mythical Beasts materialized. "As the name suggests, I'm allowed to Normal Summon one additional time this turn! Therefore, I sacrifice Destiny Hero Dread Servant to summon Destiny Hero Dash Guy in Attack Mode!"

The armored hero transformed into an orb of rainbow-colored energy. Out of the orb emerged a warrior clad in black cybernetic armor. Installed in the armor were wheels located in the soles and hands, and a helmet with a black-tinted visor. **[ATK: 2100; LV: 6]**

"All right!" Kero cheered. By now he had finished all of the sandwiches he had taken with him. "Mira's monster is stronger than _all_ of Hawk's! She's going down, now!"

"Destiny Hero Dash Guy, attack Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind! _Lightning Strike_!" The cybernetic wheeled hero's wheels tore across the floor as it rapidly dashed towards the small bird creature.

"I activate the Trap Card, Shift!" Hawk shouted, quickly extending her right arm out. A Trap Card picturing a nearly cartoonish knight behind an equally cartoonish purple monster lifted up. Also on the card were two arrows; the one on the left was pointing from the knight to the monster, while the one on the right was vice versa. "When you target one of my monsters for an attack or by a card effect, Shift lets me switch the target to another monster on my field! Now Sirocco the Dawn becomes Dash Guy's new attack target!" The cybernetic wheeled hero almost unwillingly found himself dashing towards the breastplate-wearing bird humanoid. Nevertheless, he spun on his right foot and swung his left foot against the bird humanoid's face, shattering it into pixels. **[LP: 4000 – 3900]**

"After Dash Guy attacks, he switches into Defense Mode," Mira said as the cybernetic wheeled hero knelt defensively, holding his arms up to his chest. **[DEF: 1000; LV: 6]** "I'll place one more card face-down, and end my turn!" She slid another card into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot, and another vertical backing materialized behind the hero.

"My turn!" Hawk shouted as she furiously drew her card.

"And Clock Tower Prison's effect activates!" Mira announced. "Now it gains its second Clock Counter!" The clock's hands turned clockwise until they pointed at six o'clock. Afterwards, the bell slowly began to chime six times.

"It won't do you any good, because I'm ending this duel right now! I almost forgot to mention—when Bora the Spear attacks a monster in Defense Mode, the difference between its Attack Points and your monster's Defense Points is dealt as damage to you!

"Bora the Spear has seventeen hundred Attack Points. Your Dash Guy has only one thousand Defense Points. That's _more_ than enough to defeat you, so I don't _need_ to activate Gale's ability!"

_That's what _she_ thinks!_ Mira confidently thought.

"Blackwing Bora the Spear, attack Destiny Hero Dash Guy! _Death Spiral!_" The spear-wielding bird humanoid flew up into the air and began to skyrocket down at the cybernetic wheeled hero.

"_MIRA!"_ Homanu wailed.

"I activate the Trap Card, Eternal Dread!" Mira shouted. A Trap Card picturing a full moon with a 'D' in the center, positioned high above the clock tower of Clock Tower Prison, quickly lifted up. "This card instantly gives Clock Tower Prison two additional Clock Counters!" For a third time, the clock's hands moved clockwise until they pointed at twelve o'clock. As the bell slowly chimed twelve times, the entire scenery slowly began to wobble. "And in case you forgot, I take no battle damage since Clock Tower Prison has at least four Clock Counters!"

_I can't believe that bitch outsmarted me _again_!_ Hawk angrily thought as the spear-wielding bird humanoid successfully struck at the cybernetic wheeled hero. Although the hero shattered into pixels, Mira was protected from the force of the destruction by an invisible barrier, courtesy of the clock tower.

"You've tricked me for the last time, Oshaki! Now it's _my_ turn! I activate the Spell Card, Black Flock!" A Spell Card picturing the small bird creature and the spear-wielding bird humanoid flying along with a flock of crows over a haunted forest materialized. "This card lets me draw one card for every 'Blackwing' monster on my field that has a different name! And I draw two!" She immediately drew two extra cards.

"Next, I tune my Level Three Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind into my Level Four Blackwing Bora the Spear!"

The small bird creature split apart into three white stars, each one transforming into a green virtual ring. The rings flew through the spear-wielding bird humanoid, who transformed into four white stars. **[4+3=7]**

"I Synchro Summon my ultimate weapon: _BLACKWING ARMOR MASTER_!"

A burst of white-green light flashed before the duel. Swooping out from the light was another bird humanoid. This one was covered from head to toe in black steel armor with red lining on its chest and wings. Its armor also included a helmet in the shape of a bird's head with a red-tinted visor tucked inside the helmet's 'beak'. **[ATK: 2500; LV: 7]**

_Oh my _God_!_ the astonished Homanu thought. _I _knew_ Hawk's monsters looked familiar!_ "Mira!" he warned her. "She's using the same cards used by Crow Hogan!"

"She _is_?!" Mira said back.

"Yeah! And be careful for her Armor Master! It can't be destroyed in battle, and Hawk won't take any damage when it battles!"

_So I guess I'll have to find another way to defeat it,_ she thought.

"Thanks for ruining the surprise for me, you jerk!" Hawk shouted as she slid all three cards in her hand into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. Three vertical backings appeared behind the armored bird humanoid. "But let's see if she can get out of _this_! I end my turn!"

_I'll have to be extra careful if I have _three_ face-down cards I'm up against…_ Mira thought. "It's my turn!" she said aloud as she drew.

"At this moment, I activate my Dust Tornado Trap Card!" Hawk shouted. A Trap Card picturing a tornado with dust particles in the vortex lifted up. "This card destroys one Spell or Trap Card on your side of the field! Say goodbye to your Clock Tower Prison!" The same dusty tornado pictured on the card shot out and struck at the giant clock tower, causing it to crumble.

"Big mistake!" Mira shouted. "When Clock Tower Prison's destroyed while it has at least four Clock Counters, I can Special Summon the monster imprisoned deep inside—_Destiny Hero Dread Guy_!"

Just before the clock tower crumbled into dust and the field returned to its original scenery, the muscular chained hero leapt out of the rubble and landed beside Mira. His landing caused the ground to shake for a few seconds. **[ATK: ?; LV: 8]**

"When Dread Guy's Special Summoned, after destroying all monsters on my field that aren't Destiny Heroes, I can Special Summon two Destiny Heroes from my Graveyard! _Dread Roar_!" The muscular chained hero let out an ear-piercing battle cry as two dark purple portals appeared beside him. Emerging out of one of them was the cybernetic wheeled hero, and emerging out of the other was the crystal-covered hero. **[ATK: 2100; LV: 6]** **[DEF: 1600; LV: 4]**

"And thanks to his other special ability, Dread Guy's Attack and Defense Points are equal to the combined Attack Points of all Destiny Heroes on my field!" The sinister violet aura shrouded the muscular chained hero. **[ATK: ? – 3500; LV: 8]**

"But don't forget!" Hawk reminded her. "Thanks to Armor Master's ability, he won't be destroyed in battle, and I won't take any battle damage!"

"Then I guess I won't attack you, then!"

"Actually, you _will_; especially when I activate my One-on-One Fight Trap Card!" A Trap Card picturing the silhouettes of two ancient Japanese warriors standing face to face on a beach in the sunset lifted up. "This card forces both of our monsters with the highest Attack Points to battle! And that's exactly what they're gonna do now!"

The muscular chained hero unwillingly leapt towards the armored bird humanoid and swung the chain attached to his right wrist at the bird humanoid. Although the chain successfully struck at it, the bird humanoid remained standing; there wasn't a single dent in its armor!

"So…what was the point in _that_?" the close to unimpressed Kero asked.

"If I remember correctly," Homanu replied, "Blackwing Armor Master has the ability to generate Wedge Counters. But that only works if Armor Master _attacks_ a monster, not when it's _being attacked_. So I guess that attack _was_ pretty pointless!" His eyes widened as he remembered Hawk's final vertical backing. "Unless that face-down card has something to do with it!"

"You've hit the nail right on the head!" Hawk beamed as a Trap Card picturing the armored bird humanoid throwing a sharp black thorn into the body of a green mechanical humanoid composed of several parts of combat airplanes. "I activate the Trap Card, Counter Wedge! Since your Dread Guy attacked my Armor Master, it automatically gets a Wedge Counter!" The same thorn pictured on the card shot out and struck at the muscular chained hero's chest. When it did, some blood started to trickle from the chest.

"So…what do Wedge Counters _do_, anyway?" Kero asked.

"You really _are_ that eager to know, aren't you?!" Hawk remarked. "Well, I guess I'll tell you! During my turn, I can use Armor Master's _third_ special ability, which removes all Wedge Counters from monsters on Mira's field that have them. And when I do, the Attack and Defense Points of every monster that had them become _zilch_!"

Hearing this, Homanu desperately said, "Mira! You have to find a way to either remove your monster's Wedge Counter before she does, or get rid of Armor Master!"

"I'm afraid I can't do _either_ of those, now," Mira sighed. "But there's no way I'm backing down _now_! In the meantime, I'll activate Diamond Guy's ability!" The hero's crystals shone a second time as Mira picked up her deck's top card. "This time, it's The Beginning of the End! Now it goes to my Graveyard!" She slid the card she just picked up into her Disk's Graveyard.

"I'll place this face-down, and end my turn!" After sliding the remaining card in her hand into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot, another vertical backing appeared behind her three heroes.

"Looks like you've finally met your match!" Hawk shouted as she drew her card. "I'll just go ahead and activate Armor Master's special ability!" The thorn on the muscular chained hero's chest faded away into pixels. But instead of healing, more blood poured down onto the hero's chest, causing him to kneel down and clutch his chest in pain. **[ATK: 3500 – 0000; LV: 8]**

"This is it, Oshaki! I'm gonna show you what happens when you even _think_ about challenging me to a duel!"

"Actually, didn't _you_ challenge _me_ to this duel?" Mira asked.

"SHUT UP! Blackwing Armor Master, attack Destiny Hero Dread Guy and end this duel! _BLACK HURRICANE!_" The armored bird humanoid flew up and swooped down towards the muscular chained hero.

"Time for your friend to say goodbye!" the yellow-haired thug remarked.

"Not yet, I won't!" Mira shouted as a Trap Card picturing a dark red mechanical figure lifted up. It had a diamond-shaped mirror on its chest, a silver skull-like face, mechanical blood-red arms with demonic claws, and a pair of small black demonic wings. In the mirror was a faint image of a violet kanji symbol for Trap Cards. The same mirror pictured on the card appeared in front of Mira. "I activate the Trap Card, Demonic Trap Mirror! When you declare an attack, I can take one Trap Card from your Graveyard and activate it!

"With this card, I activate your very own Shift!" In the machine's mirror, the Trap Card kanji symbol was replaced with the exact same image of Hawk's own Shift Trap Card. "And with Shift's effect, I can switch your Armor Master's attack to my own Diamond Guy!" The armored bird humanoid unwillingly found itself to fly straight towards the crystal-covered hero. However, it still managed to successfully strike at the hero, and thus shatter him into pixels.

"AND YOU MANAGE TO SAVE YOURSELF _AGAIN_!" Hawk screamed. Calming down, she continued, "So what if you did? _I'm_ the one with the upper hand, _I'm_ the one who has almost all their Life Points, and _I'm_ the one with a monster that's practically _invincible_! Now, make your final move—and make it count!" The wound on the muscular chained hero's chest instantly healed. **[ATK: 0000 – 2100; LV: 8]**

_It all comes down to this…_ Mira worriedly thought. She tightly closed her eyes as she bravely drew her card. As she slowly opened her eyes to look at the drawn card, they suddenly widened in shock, but not in a good way.

"Aww, didn't get the card you wanted?" the red-brown-haired thug taunted. "Guess you should give up, now!"

"Wait—there's still the effect of Beginning of the End in my Graveyard!" Mira said. A faded image of a Spell Card with a pattern appeared behind her. But the artwork was so pitch-black it was hard to make out what the pattern was. "With its effect, I draw three cards!" She drew three extra cards. _Now _this_ is more like it!_

"First, I summon Destiny Hero Devil Guy in Attack Mode!" The demonic-costumed hero appeared in between the wheeled and muscular chained heroes. **[ATK: 0600; LV: 3]**

"And with another Destiny Hero on my field, Dread Guy gets stronger!" Another violet aura shrouded the muscular chained hero. **[ATK: 2100 – 2700; LV: 8]**

"Then I activate the Field Spell Card, Dark City!"

Mira's Disk's Field Spell Card slot opened up, and she placed a Field Spell Card picturing a black cardboard-cutout city at midnight on top of it. When the slot closed up, the field transformed into the same cardboard cutout metropolis, set at the exact same time as pictured on the card.

"Now when a Destiny Hero attacks," Mira explained, "if its Attack Points are lower than those of the monster it's attacking, that Destiny Hero instantly gains one thousand Attack Points!"

"Power up your monsters all you want!" Hawk shouted. "My Armor Master will be able to withstand _all_ of their attacks! And even if you _do_ remove Armor Master from play, you _still_ won't be able to attack me! Admit it—you _can't_ win!"

"Not unless I activate this—Dread Chain!" Mira corrected her as she swiped the remaining card in her hand through her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. A Spell Card picturing the muscular chained hero swinging the chain attached to his right cufflink towards an Elemental Hero Thunder Giant materialized. "Because I have Dread Guy on my field, I can destroy one monster on your side of the field, as long as its Attack Points are less than those of Dread Guy's, and if its Level is lower than Dread Guy's, as well! And there's only one monster on your field that meets both of these conditions!"

"NO! NOT MY ARMOR MASTER!" Hawk wailed. Before she could say or do anything else, the muscular chained hero swung his right chain at the armored bird humanoid. This time, the humanoid failed to withstand that attack; it was instantly shattered into pixels by the chain. After its destruction, Hawk noticed that the right chain was through a dark purple portal that somehow formed.

"There's another effect to this Spell Card. Dread Chain also lets me resurrect a monster that's weaker than the monster I destroyed to your side of the field. I choose your Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind!" The muscular hero pulled his chain, and out of the portal reemerged the small bird creature, who was constricted by the chain. **[ATK: 1300; LV: 3]** However, the bird creature managed to free itself as the hero pulled his chain back.

"This duel ends right now! Destiny Hero Devil Guy, attack Blackwing Gale the Whirlwind!" The demonic-costumed hero flew towards the small bird creature, sticking out his left claw. "And thanks to Dark City, Devil Guy gets a power boost!" Sure enough, a dark red aura shrouded the hero **[ATK: 0600 – 1600; LV: 3]** as he thrust his left claw into the small bird creature's chest. This resulted in the bird creature being shattered into pixels; some of the pixels struck at Hawk as she tried to protect herself with her left arm. **[LP: 3900 – 3600]**

"Destiny Heroes Dash Guy and Dread Guy, attack Hawk directly! _Lightning Strike_ and _Predator of Dreadnought_!" The cybernetic wheeled hero tore across the floor as he headed towards Hawk, while the muscular chained hero swung the chain attached to his right cufflink at her. The cybernetic wheeled hero in turn spun on his right foot and swung his left foot across her face. Both attacks resulted in her falling backwards. **[LP: 3600 – 0000]** After a screen displaying Mira's face with 'WIN' written underneath in gold popped open, the same wave of green digital energy that appeared before flowed again; the virtual screen closed up and the cardboard cutout metropolis returned to normal.

"All _right_!" Kero cheered, giving Homanu a high-five. "Mira won!"

"Okay, you punks!" Homanu shouted at the female thugs. "You leave his defenseless woman alone!"

"Fine, we _will_!" Hawk shouted, signaling towards her friends. To Mira, she vowed, "But don't think you've seen the last of _us_, Oshaki! You _will_ pay for this!" Hawk and her cohorts ran away from the scene.

"It's okay," Mira assured the elderly woman as soon as the three thugs were gone. "You're alright now."

"Thank you, dearie," the elderly woman said, placing a necklace made of gray yarn around Mira's neck. Hanging down from the necklace was a shard of amethyst in the shape of a crescent moon.

"I-I don't think I can accept this!" Mira said, quickly handing the necklace back to the woman. "I mean, there's _no way_ I can accept something this valuable!"

"Oh, I _insist_, dearie! After what you've done for me, you _deserve_ it!" She handed the necklace back to her savior.

"Um…_thanks_, I guess…"

"Farewell, dearie," the woman said, leaving the three friends.

"Wow…now _that_ was totally unexpected!" Kero said, scratching his head.

"The question is," said Homanu, "why would someone like her just give you rare jewelry like that? Is she even _aware_ of how valuable it is?"

"I don't know," Mira replied. "But just in case anything else happens, I'd better hold on to this."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Kero.

"Why don't we go home? I've pretty much had enough excitement for one day." Her friends nodded as they returned to their Runners to head home.

_You deserve that necklace, all right,_ the elderly woman thought as she kept on walking. _Believe me—that is more valuable than you'd ever expect. And don't worry, Mira Oshaki—our paths _will_ cross again…_

* * *

**FEATURED CARD – CHRONICLE 002**

**Blackwing Armor Master  
**DARK/Winged Beast – Synchro – Effect/7/2500/1500  
1 "Blackwing" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters  
This card cannot be destroyed by battle, and you take no battle damage from battles involving this card. If this card attacks a monster, you can place 1 Wedge Counter on that monster at the end of the Damage Step (max. 1). You can remove all Wedge Counters from your opponent's monsters to reduce the ATK and DEF of each monster that had a Wedge Counter to 0, until the End Phase.

* * *

**EXCLUSIVE CARDS**

**Black Flock  
**Spell/Normal  
Draw 1 card for each face-up "Blackwing" monster you control that has a different name (max. 3). You cannot activate other Spell/Trap Cards or effects during the turn you activate this card.  
_Image: Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind and Blackwing – Bora the Spear flying amongst a flock of crows over a haunted forest  
Origination: Psychid_

**One-on-One Fight  
**Trap/Normal  
This turn, each player selects 1 monster they control with the highest ATK. Conduct battle between the selected monsters.  
_Image: The silhouettes of two ancient Japanese warriors standing face to face on a beach in the sunset  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime – Episode 11 – Judai & Sho! Tag Duel (Second Part)_

**Counter Wedge  
**Trap/Normal  
Activate only after damage calculation when an opponent's monster attacks a face-up "Blackwing Armor Master" you control. Place 1 Wedge Counter on the opponent's monster. You cannot activate this effect if that monster already has a Wedge Counter.  
_Image: A Blackwing Armor Master throwing a Wedge Counter into the chest of a Flying Fortress SKY FIRE  
Origination: Psychid_

**Demonic Trap Mirror  
**Trap/Normal  
Activate only when an opponent's monster declares an attack. Activate 1 Trap Card from your opponent's Graveyard.  
_Image: A demonic, blood-red colored machine with a mirror on its chest, a silver skull-like face, red mechanical arms with demonic claws, and a small pair of black demonic wings; in the mirror is a violet kanji symbol for Trap Cards  
Origination: Psychid_

**Dread Chain  
**Spell/Normal  
Select 1 face-up "Destiny Hero Dread Guy" you control and 1 face-up monster your opponent controls whose Level and ATK are equal to or lower than the Level and ATK of the selected "Destiny Hero Dread Guy". Destroy the opponent's selected monster, then Special Summon 1 monster from your opponent's Graveyard whose Level and ATK are lower than the Level and ATK of the destroyed monster. You can only activate 1 "Dread Chain" per turn.  
_Image: A Destiny Hero Dread Guy swinging the chain attached to his right cufflink at an Elemental Hero Thunder Giant  
Origination: Psychid_

* * *

**Next time, on **_**Yu-Gi-Oh! EXELIXI**_**…**

**Seto Kaiba arranges another tournament; but this time, not by himself!**

"WHAT?!" Seto screamed, pounding his right fist on the table. "You actually want me to arrange another tournament _after_ one had just ended?! How crazy do you think I am?!"

"Seto, baby, _think_ about it! Your company's been successful after hosting stuff like the Battle City Finals and the KC Grand Championship, amirite?"

"Um…well…"

"And your annual summer tournament's been successful every year, amirite? And _this_ year's tournament turned out to be one of the _greatest_ successes you've ever had, amirite?"

"I have to admit, you have a point there…"

"So think about it, Seto, baby! If you agree to collab with me on this tournament, your popularity will surely hit the _roof_! Maybe even _beyond_ that!"

**Meanwhile, Mira finds herself in a whole new world!**

"Everyone, come quick! Our Wielder has arrived!" a high-pitched female voice shouted. The voice belonged to a young girl who was about half Mira's age and height. She had faint violet skin, long dirty red hair, gentle green eyes and no visible mouth. She was dressed from head to toe in a black tattered dress with long purple sleeves, but she was barefoot. Very soon, some more people came out of their huts to join the girl. Their clothing's color scheme was very similar to the girl that just spoke. As they did, they began making comments about Mira, as if they were excited to meet her.

"Okay…what the hell's all _this_ about?" she flatly demanded.

"'Tis the anticipation of your arrival, my young friend," a deep female voice spoke. The villagers quickly moved aside to make room for a tall, slender woman that walked across the bridge to confront Mira. She was dressed from head to toe in a black cloak with a purple hood and red sleeves. Her visible hands were the same color as most of the villagers'. A pair of glowing green eyes was visible from underneath the hood.

**And after meeting her opponent-to-be…**

"I am Amphiaraus, Crusader of Corycian Cave. And I shall be your opponent for the Ceremony."

…**she'll have to do whatever it takes to prove herself as a Wielder! ...Whatever **_**that**_** means!**

"I hope you are ready, Mira Oshaki," Amphiaraus solemnly spoke as his deck automatically shuffled. "This will be no ordinary duel that occurs in your world—this will be a duel to test your worthiness as a Wielder!"

**Why was Mira brought to wherever she is now? Will she defeat Amphiaraus in this so-called "Ceremony"? And what exactly is the purpose of being a so-called "Wielder"?**

**Stay tuned for the next Chronicle: "Guardian Baou"!**


	3. Guardian Baou

Of all the chapters I had to revise for this story up to this point, this one had to undergo the most revisions (at least as far as the featured duel goes). I should also warn you that while this may not be the part where the story "truly" develops, hopefully it should give you an idea of where it may be heading.

Also, I should tell you that after this chapter, this story may go on hiatus for a bit. (Announcing your story would be going on hiatus is one thing; but doing so when you're less than ten, or even five, chapters in is definitely something else.) I'm doing this not just because I want to get more chapters written in advance, but there's some catching up to do with my beta-reader proofreading the chapters I've sent thus far. (Not that I'm being impatient or pointing any fingers.) For that, I apologize.

Oh, and there'll be some nudity towards the end, but hopefully not too explicit. That's saying something, since I usually don't do this kind of thing; even in T-rated stories.

Enjoy chapter three.

* * *

It was quite the day for Mira and her friends. First, Mira successfully defeated one of England's top duelists. Then she saved a distressed elderly woman from some street thugs. _Then_ said elderly woman gave Mira the amethyst necklace, for obvious unknown reasons. Right now, Mira and her friends were back in their apartment, observing the same necklace Mira was holding.

"I still don't know why that woman gave you that necklace," Kero said.

"Yeah," Mira said, looking at the necklace, "but I still want to know why I got it…"

"Maybe it was a way of saying thanks for helping that woman back there?" Homanu suggested.

"Could be—but since when do you see old ladies giving away something so valuable as a way of saying thanks?"

"Hey—you know how old ladies can be!" Kero implied.

"Kero, be serious!" Homanu scolded.

"I'm just saying! …So, what are you gonna do with it?"

"Right now, I'm gonna hold onto this until I find out why she gave me this," Mira decided.

"But how do you know you're gonna find that woman again?" Homanu asked. "We don't know her name, or where she lives, or _anything_ about her!"

"But we do know what she looks like. And if we happen to come across her again, there's gonna be some stuff I'd like to know!"

* * *

**CHRONICLE 003  
GUARDIAN BAOU**

* * *

Later at sunset, at the famous KaibaCorp, Seto Kaiba was in his office viewing some important paperwork. These were reports of the ratings and reviews of the final match of the tournament, both of which were in his favor.

"Hm!" Seto exclaimed, looking back and forth from the paper he held in each hand. "I have never had such high ratings or favorable reviews since Team 5D's participated in the World Racing Grand Prix. It must've been because of Mira's victory against Arthur. I suppose I have Oshaki to thank; it seems that tournaments are starting to become more exciting again!"

No sooner had he said that when a yellow button began flashing on his desk. This was the button used for any incoming video calls Seto would have. "Who could that be at _this_ hour?" he wondered aloud as he pressed the button. "I know it's not Zigfried…" When he did, a virtual video screen popped open in front of him. Standing in the center of the screen was a man about the same age as him, who had a bald head and grey eyes, and was dressed in a grey Italian suit.

"Hey-hey, Mr. Seto!" the man said eagerly. "How's it going, mah friend?"

"Tomio Keller?" Seto said, almost unimpressed. "What do you want _now_? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Oh, I do! And I've heard the buzz, man—everyone's going _crazy_ about what just happened in the final match today!"

"I know that. Now, if you don't have anything further to discuss, please let me-"

"Actually, I do! How would you and I like to arrange _another_ tournament for all the nice dueling fans out there?"

"WHAT?!" Seto screamed, pounding his right fist on the table. "You actually want me to arrange another tournament _after_ one had just ended?! How crazy do you think I am?!"

"Seto, baby, _think_ about it! Your company's been successful after hosting stuff like the Battle City Finals and the KC Grand Championship, amirite?"

"Um…well…"

"And your annual summer tournament's been successful every year, amirite? And _this_ year's tournament turned out to be one of the _greatest_ successes you've ever had, amirite?"

"I have to admit, you have a point there…"

"So think about it, Seto, baby! If you agree to collab with me on this tournament, your popularity will surely hit the _roof_! Maybe even _beyond_ that!"

"Wait just a minute—how do I know this isn't another one of your crazy antics to try and make your company as popular as mine?! I always _knew_ you had a jealous streak!"

"Maybe; but if you agree, _your_ company will gain an equal amount of popularity as mine! So it's basically a win-win situation! C'mon, Kaiba, don't turn me down!"

Seto thought about what Tomio had just said. After about less than ten seconds, he made his decision. "…Okay, I'll do it; but I'm keeping an eye on you, Keller!"

"Don't worry, Kaiba," Tomio said, smiling reassuringly. "I'm sure you'll just _love_ what you hear…!"

* * *

Nighttime had finally arrived. At this moment, Mira and her friends were already in their sleepwear and getting ready for bed.

"There's one thing that kind a bothers me," Kero said as he climbed up into his hammock. "Didn't Homanu say that Hawk was using a deck that was almost the same as Crow Hogan's?"

"He did," she replied, pulling herself underneath the covers. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm worried that she may also have that one Synchro Monster Crow used. I think it was 'Black Feather Dragon', or something…?"

"I think it's '_Black-Winged_ Dragon', actually," Homanu corrected him. He was already underneath the covers. "But I wouldn't worry about her having one. I mean, it's a one-of-a-kind card—how could she _possibly_ have one?"

"Good point…"

"Well, guys," Mira said, placing the necklace on a desk beside her side of the bed, "let's get some sleep; I, for one, am pretty much _bushed_ after what I've been through today!"

"Makes sense to me," said Homanu.

"'Night, everybody!" Kero chirped, plopping his head on his pillow and instantly falling asleep. After shutting off the lamp beside her, Mira and Homanu did the same.

About half an hour later, the necklace's amethyst began to shine as it suddenly levitated and floated towards Mira. It touched Mira's forehead as she was sound asleep.

* * *

In her dream, Mira was lying on her front upon some dirt and gravel, in her everyday clothing rather than her sleepwear. As one eye slowly opened, and eventually the other, she woke up and found herself in some kind of cave.

Actually, it looked less like a cave and more like an underground village; she saw huts made out of clay and stone, with yellow lights coming through all doors and windows through an unknown source. There were also small lights of the same color all across the village, and there was a stone bridge over a small stream. There was also a circular altar located across from the largest of the huts.

"What…what is this place?" she wondered as she looked around.

"Everyone, come quick! Our Wielder has arrived!" a high-pitched female voice shouted. The voice belonged to a young girl who was about half Mira's age and height. She had faint violet skin, long dirty red hair, gentle green eyes and no visible mouth. She was dressed from head to toe in a black tattered dress with long purple sleeves, but she was barefoot. Very soon, some more people came out of their huts to join the girl. Their overall appearances were very similar to the girl that just spoke. As they did, they began making comments about Mira, as if they were excited to meet her.

"Okay…what the hell's all _this_ about?" she flatly demanded.

"'Tis the anticipation of your arrival, my young friend," a deep female voice spoke. The villagers quickly moved aside to make room for a tall, slender woman that walked across the bridge to confront Mira. She was dressed from head to toe in a black cloak with a purple hood and red sleeves. Her visible hands were the same color as most of the villagers'. A pair of glowing green eyes was visible from underneath the hood.

"'The anticipation of my arrival'?! What on Earth is _that_ supposed to mean?! How the hell did I get here?! And why did this girl call me a 'Wielder'?!" She was, of course, referring to the girl who just spoke, who whimpered after what she just heard.

"Patience, my young friend," the woman calmly instructed. "And allow me to introduce myself. I am Cassandra—Elder of Corycian Cave, on the planet Olympus."

"'Olympus'? Isn't that supposed to be on, like, a _mountain_, or something?"

"That may hold true in your home dimension. But this is an entirely different dimension, at least to people of our kind. And right now, our world is in grave danger."

"I still don't understand…"

"I assure you, all will be properly explained to you, in due time. For now…let the Ceremony commence!" The villagers cheered in response to this.

"What 'Ceremony'?! What are you talking about?!"

"The Ceremony to see if you are truly worthy of wielding the spirit of the Iroa of Darkness!"

"'Iroa of Darkness'? Okay, _now_ I'm officially lost."

"Please, Miss Oshaki," Cassandra chuckled. "_Surely_ I would not let you come here without the necklace I have given you?"

_Wait a minute; that old lady gave me that necklace, not _her_!_ Mira angrily thought. Afterwards, her eyes popped open as she discovered the shocking truth. "_You're_ the one who gave me that necklace?!"

"That is correct. And I thank you once again for rescuing me from those thugs earlier."

"But…how did you get into _my_ world?! And how did you look like an old woman when I first saw you, when _this_ is what you really look like?!"

"I will explain everything you need to know after the Ceremony. And speaking of which, shall we begin?"

"I guess, but I just have one question—what exactly is this 'Ceremony'?"

"Is it not obvious?" a bold male voice spoke. "The Ceremony is to test you to see if you are worthy of being a Wielder!"

The crowd quickly moved aside to make room for another being of their kind to approach Mira. This being had lavender-colored skin, green eyes, spiky snow white hair, and no visible mouth. In place of his nipples were amethysts; the one on the left side of his chest was covered by a black toga he wore. He also wore a platinum cuff on his right wrist.

"Who are _you_?" asked Mira.

"I am Amphiaraus, Crusader of Corycian Cave. And I shall be your opponent for the Ceremony."

He raised his left arm into the air, and his cuff began to shine a lustrous violet. In a split second, a Duel Disk resembling the DiaDhank once used by the Sacred Guadians of Ancient Egypt took its place. To strengthen this fact, in place of the Life Point counter was the Eye of Wdjat from the same era. Two violet rectangles were seen on two of the Disk's three blades, while only one was shown on the third. Finally, a deck was placed in a slot that was located on the top of the Disk, as opposed to the side.

"Is…is that a Duel Disk?!" the astonished Mira spoke. "And it has a _deck_ full of _Duel Monsters cards_ in it?! How can you _POSSIBLY_ know about Duel Monsters?!"

"We have known about it for thousands of centuries," Cassandra explained. "I'm sure you've heard about the very first duels held in Ancient Egypt five thousand years ago in your world, am I correct?"

"Yeah, I know that. But they weren't done with cards; they were done with giant rocks with spirits sealed inside. …Right?"

"Exactly. And during his archeological expedition, Maximillion Pegasus rediscovered these ancient battles in Egypt, and presented them in the game you and your kind know as 'Duel Monsters'."

"Well, of _course_ he did!" Mira said, rolling her eyes. "He _was_ the creator of Duel Monsters, after all!"

"He may have been the first to transform the spirit battles into the card game you know today. But the truth is…he was not the first to create something out of these battles."

"He wasn't?"

"No. The person who actually did it was a man by the name of Alexander the Great. You see, when he and his army conquered all of Ancient Egypt, he, himself, had discovered these ancient battles and introduced them to the people in his home country of Ancient Greece. As time went by and empires including Greece were conquered, these battles were adapted in locations all over the world, including Rome and Great Britain. Eventually, these ancient battles died out before Pegasus revived these battles with Duel Monsters. But history shows that Alexander the Great is the true founder of Duel Monsters."

"But if that's true, how come a _planet in another dimension_ knows Duel Monsters, as well?!"

"When our empire was conquered, the spirits of the deceased left their now lifeless bodies and departed from Earth, searching for a proper resting place. As we have wandered across the depths of space, we have discovered a planet, uninhabited and lifeless, which is the planet you are on now. Although our true bodies are gone, our knowledge before our deaths still remained within us. A part of such knowledge was the ancient battles I have told you about earlier."

"Okay, but I'm still confused," Mira said. "If you and these people know everything about Duel Monsters, why can't _you_ duel me instead of him? _You're_ the one who gave me this necklace, aren't you?"

"That is correct," Cassandra replied. "But I am the Elder of this village. An Elder cannot duel, unless they have no choice but to do so, whether or not they be serious battles.

"Now then—shall we begin the Ceremony?"

"I dunno," Mira said, scratching her head. "I mean, I don't have my deck or Disk with me-"

"I can fix that," Cassandra said, snapping her fingers. Almost instantly, Mira found her fully constructed Duel Disk onto her arm, with her Main Deck tucked inside. She also found her Duel Gazer fastened to her face.

"Now, then, if you would please follow us," Cassandra spoke. She and Amphiaraus walked across the stone bridge to the altar. Mira hesitated at first, but soon had the courage to catch up to the two. The villagers in turn followed the three.

In no time at all, Cassandra, Amphiaraus and Mira were at the top of the altar, while the villagers watched from below. Inside the rim of the altar, there were several markings in Enochian—the language of the angels. The innermost circle had four Enochian letters which, if translated by an expert, spelled out 'DARK'. Several other tiles of the altar were designed in the same manner as the ones in the rim. All of the ancient letters were colored dark purple. Mira and Amphiaraus were facing each other, while Cassandra watched sideways.

"I hope you are ready, Mira Oshaki," Amphiaraus solemnly spoke as his deck automatically shuffled. "This will be no ordinary duel that occurs in your world—this will be a duel to test your worthiness as a Wielder!"

"I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, but okay!" Mira shouted as her deck automatically shuffled as well.

She then pressed a button on her Gazer, causing the lens to flash for a split second. Amphiaraus, on the other hand, tightly closed his left eye and opened it widely, causing it to become more luminous. At least through Mira's Gazer, she could still see the wave of green energy flowed around the dueling area. She was also able to hear the female voice announcing: _"Augmented Reality Vision Link established."_ To top this sequence off, both duelists drew five cards apiece.

"Let the Ceremony commence!" Cassandra boldly announced, causing the audience below to wildly cheer.

_**MIRA: 4000 LP / AMPHIARAUS: 4000 LP**_

"I'll start!" Mira shouted as she drew. "I summon Destiny Hero Diamond Guy in Attack Mode!" After slapping the card onto one of her Disk's Monster Card Zones, a blue portal appeared on the floor in front of her. Floating up from the portal was the crystal-covered hero. **[ATK: 1400; LV: 4]**

"I activate Diamond Guy's ability! Once a turn, I can look at the top card of my deck. If it's a Spell Card, then it goes to my Graveyard, and I can activate its effects during my next turn! Otherwise, it goes right back to the bottom of my deck!" The hero's crystals shone as Mira picked up her deck's top card. "It's The Beginning of the End! Since it's a Normal Spell, it goes right into my Graveyard!" As such, she slid the card into her Disk's Graveyard.

"I place two cards face-down, and end my turn!" Mira said, taking two cards from her hand and sliding them into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. After two vertical card backings materialized in front of her, something unexpected happened. A wave of light purple energy erupted beneath her, somehow causing her to scream in pain. **[LP: 4000 – 3700]** She was left startled even after the energy wave died down.

"If you are that eager to know," Amphiaraus calmly explained, "what you have just witnessed was the effect of our Field Spell in play."

"But there _is_ no Field Spell in play!" Mira protested.

"Correction—there _is_. During our spirit battles on the island of Olympus, there is always a Field Spell in play, which is actually one of our six main locations. And the effect of each pseudo-Field Spell, if you may call it, varies depending on the location.

"In this case, the effect of Corycian Cave had just activated. During each of our End Phases, the turn player loses one hundred Life Points for every card in their hand. Since you had three at the time this effect activated, you lost three hundred Life Points."

"Okay, but…why did I actually _feel_ that?!"

"One of the purposes of the Ceremony is to teach you what you are to be up against, should you be a Wielder. Should a Wielder participate in battles of life or death, everything becomes real: All of the destruction, and all of the pain!

_So if I have even _one card_ left in my hand,_ Mira thought, _I'm still wide open to that Field Spell's effect! So that means in order to _avoid_ taking damage, I'll have to duel with an empty hand! …But what's the _real_ purpose of this…?_

"My turn!" Amphiaraus declared, drawing his card. "Immediately, I activate the Spell Card, Into the Void!" A Spell Card picturing four cards—one of them being a Monster Card and another being a Trap Card—in a sinister black-green flux materialized. "Because I have at least three cards in my hand, I now draw one card. But when my turn is over, I have to send each and every card in my hand to the Graveyard!"

"So that means you won't be affected by this Field Spell!" Mira exclaimed. "You really _are_ desperate to win, aren't you?"

"Believe me, Mira Oshaki; there is very much a real reason as to why I have made a move such as that. You see, those who have cards that would work to their advantage have desperate ways to get them into their hands. While I, too, have such cards, I have none of such intentions. You might say that another purpose of this Ceremony in particular is to show you that you mustn't rely on how much you have in your hand, but rather how you put that hand to good use!"

"I don't know if that's supposed to make any sense; but, okay!"

"Continuing my turn," Amphiaraus resumed, "I activate my Infernity Launcher Continuous Spell!" A Spell Card picturing an orange demonic cannon shooting out two fiendish creatures—one of them being a four-eyed, blue-skinned fiend with orange hair, and the other being a miniature fiend dressed in a stereotypical cowboy uniform—materialized. "Once a turn, I am permitted to send an 'Infernity' monster from my hand to the Graveyard, like so!" He took a card from his hand and slid it into his gauntlet's Graveyard.

"Next, I summon Infernity Archfiend in Attack Mode!" After slapping another card onto one of his gauntlet's Monster Card Zones, another blue portal appeared. The same four-eyed, blue-skinned, orange-haired fiend pictured on the Spell Card he just activated flew right out of it. **[ATK: 1800; LV: 4]**

The orange-haired fiend raised its arms in the air, and a sinister purple circular symbol formed above the crystal-covered hero. Some purple electricity struck from the symbol at the hero, shattering him into pixels. The attack caused Mira to wince in pain. **[LP: 3700 – 3300]**

"I shall place this card face-down, and end my turn." A vertical card backing materialized behind the orange-haired fiend. "Now, I am forced to discard all of the cards in my hand!" After sliding his remaining two cards into his gauntlet's Graveyard, the same wave of light purple energy erupted from beneath him. However, he felt no pain as no cards were in his hand at the time.

"My turn!" Mira said, drawing. "And I'll activate the effect of The Beginning of the End in my Graveyard!" A faded image of the Spell Card picturing the indescribable black pattern appeared behind her. "With it, I draw three cards!" She drew three extra cards from her deck.

"Next, I summon Destiny Hero Defend Guy in Attack Mode!" After slapping the card onto one of her Disk's Monster Card Zones, another blue portal appeared. Floating up from it was a creature composed of grey stone, with a golden grill over its pitch-black face with a pair of red eyes. **[ATK: 0100; LV: 4]**

"A rather unwise move, if I may comment," Amphiaraus criticized, narrowing his eyes. "Would it not make more sense to place your monster in Defense Mode, as it has such a high amount of Defense Points?"

"It would, actually. But lucky for me, I have the Spell Card, Shield and Sword!" A Spell Card picturing a knight in bronze armor appeared. In his left hand was a bronze shield with an orange circle with 'attack' written. In his right hand was a bronze sword with a blue circle with 'defense' written. An orange arrow was pointing from the orange circle to the blue circle, and a blue arrow was pointing from the blue circle to the red circle.

"With this card, the Attack and Defense Points of all monsters on the field become swapped this turn!" Sure enough, that's exactly what happened to the four-eyed fiend **[ATK: 1800 / DEF: 1200 – ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1800]** and the rocky-armored creature **[ATK: 0100 / DEF 2700 – ATK: 2700 / DEF: 0100]**.

"Destiny Hero Defend Guy, attack Infernity Archfiend!" The rocky-armored creature slammed his fist onto the four-eyed fiend, shattering it into pixels. The force of the slamming nearly caused Amphiaraus to lose his balance. Fortunately, he regained control just before he was about to fall off. **[LP: 4000 – 2500]** After the attack, Mira noticed that a purple aura was shrouding her, and part of the aura was being absorbed into her necklace's amethyst. "What's going on?"

"That is _another_ purpose of the Ceremony," Amphiaraus explained. "When someone tested to be a Wielder attacks with their monsters, they unleash their form of energy known as 'Sense'."

"'Sense'?"

"Yes. Whenever one unleashes their Sense, part of it is absorbed into their crystal. And should one unleash enough Sense and their crystal has absorbed just enough of it, the Chamber will unlock. Only then will we know that we have found our Wielder!"

"'Chamber'? What 'Chamber'?"

"In due time, and if all goes well, you will find out. But in the meantime, I shall activate the special ability of Infernity Avenger in my Graveyard!" A dark purple portal appeared in front of him, and a midget fiend flew out of it. It had a white face and was clad in a stereotypical cowboy uniform. **[DEF: 0000; LV: 1]**

"How did _that_ get in there?!" Mira demanded.

"Remember Infernity Launcher, and how I sent an 'Infernity' monster to my Graveyard?" Mira only growled at that. "But I will tell you how I summoned Infernity Avenger from my Graveyard. Since your monster destroyed one of my monsters in battle, I can resurrect Infernity Avenger right away. And when I do, its Level becomes that of the monster you just destroyed!" **[LV: 1 – 4]**

"Okay; but since my monster attacked, I'll activate the Spell Card, Cease and Desist!" A Spell Card picturing a blond-haired knight signaling one of his comrades in the same armor he was wearing to kneel defensively materialized. "This card changes one of my monsters that attacked this turn to Defense Mode. And Defend Guy will do just that." The rocky-armored creature knelt to a defensive position; when he landed on his knee, the ground shook slightly. **[DEF: 0100; LV: 4]**

"I'll place one more card face-down and end my turn!" She slid another card into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot, and another vertical backing appeared beside her other vertical backings. "Now Defend Guy's Defense Points return to normal!" **[DEF: 0100 – 2700]**

"And you'll take _another_ three hundred points of damage, thanks to Corycian Cave's effect!" Amphiaraus declared. And he was right: The wave of light purple energy erupted beneath her a second time as she screamed in pain. **[LP: 3300 – 3000]**

"Now I shall draw!" he continued, drawing his card.

"And you'll be drawing _another_ card, thanks to Defend Guy's effect!" Mira interrupted. "Since he's in Defense Mode and it's your Standby Phase, you have no other choice but to draw another card!"

"Rather impressive," her opponent calmly complimented as he drew an extra card. "Not only did you manage to find ways to inflict me with massive damage and then protect it, the latter strategy also led me to being forced to draw additional cards.

"But do not think you have the upper hand just yet—I can _still_ empty my hand rather easily! To prove it, I shall once again activate the effect of my Infernity Launcher!" He took another card from his hand and slid it into his gauntlet's Graveyard.

"Next, I place this card face-down…" He slid another card vertically into his gauntlet's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. When he did, a vertical backing appeared next to his other vertical backing.

"…and then I'll activate my other face-down card, Zero-Max!" His other vertical backing lifted up. It was a Spell Card picturing a sinister portal colored red and violet shrouded by yellow electricity, floating above the horizon of rocky terrain in the midnight sky. "Because I have no cards in my hand once again, I am allowed to resurrect an 'Infernity' monster from my Graveyard! Therefore, I resurrect the monster I just sent to my Graveyard this turn: Infernity Destroyer!" Another dark purple portal appeared on Amphiaraus's side of the field. Floating up from it was a muscular, black-skinned fiend with silver armor around its shoulders and wrists. **[ATK: 2300; LV: 6]**

"And thanks to the other effect of Zero-Max, every monster with Attack Points that are less than those of the monster I resurrected is destroyed!" Some yellow electricity shot down from the ceiling and struck both Amphiaraus's cowboy fiend and Mira's rocky-armored creature, shattering both into pixels.

"Well, _I'll_ activate my Destiny Mirage Trap Card!" Mira shouted. A Trap Card picturing several broken glass shards reflecting Destiny Hero Devil Guy—a familiar demonic-clad hero of Mira's—with the original Devil Guy in the center lifted up. "Because you've destroyed my Destiny Hero, I can resurrect all Destiny Heroes that were destroyed this turn! Welcome back, Destiny Hero Defend Guy!" Another dark purple portal appeared, and the rocky-armored creature floated up from it, still kneeling defensively. **[DEF: 2700; LV: 4]**

"I must admit, you are certainly more than meets the eye," Amphiaraus commented. "And although your move was undoubtedly clever, it was still a waste. With Zero-Max's effect, I cannot attack you this turn. Nevertheless, I shall end my turn with nothing else to do." The wave of light purple energy erupted from underneath him. Just like last time, he felt no pain from the wave.

"I draw!" Mira shouted, drawing. When she looked at what she drew, a sly grin crossed her face. "Ooh, you're gonna _hate_ what I just drew!

"I activate the Spell Card, Card of Sanctity!" A Spell Card picturing two peasants catching gold coins that were falling from Heaven materialized. "This card makes us draw until we have six cards in our hand!

"But before I do that, I'll activate _another_ Spell Card: Chain Strike!" She quickly swiped a different card from her hand into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. A Spell Card picturing six visible chains shooting out of a dark red fiery background materialized. "I can only activate this card when it's gonna be at least a Chain Link Two. Now you lose four hundred Life Points times this card's Chain Link number!

"However, I have one more card to activate: Chain Summoning!" This time, the card she activated was one of her remaining two face-down cards. A Spell Card picturing a knight in dark rusty armor pulling a chain that was pulled inside a sinister violet portal lifted up. "Since this card is a Chain Link _Three_, I can Normal Summon up to three monsters this turn! But first, Chain Strike's effect will activate!" The same chains pictured on Mira's second activated Spell Card shot out and struck at Amphiaraus, causing him to slightly kneel. **[LP: 2500 – 1700]**

"And now we draw, thanks to Card of Sanctity!" Without hesitation, Mira drew four cards while Amphiaraus drew six.

"If you thought you could put me at a disadvantage with a move like that, you are sadly mistaken!" Amphiaraus remarked. After raising his right arm into the air, a Trap Card picturing a duelist holding five transparent cards in his hand lifted up. "I activate the Trap Card, Phantom Hand! Once a turn, as long as I control an 'Infernity' monster, I can remove every card in my hand from play, until my next Standby Phase! And I shall do that right now!" A shadowy portal formed overhead Amphiaraus, and he tossed all six of his cards into the portal before it closed up.

Seeing this, Mira just shrugged it off. "Oh, well; I _still_ have the cards I need to win right here! First, I summon Destiny Hero Devil Guy in Attack Mode!" Another blue portal appeared, and the demonic-clad hero floated up from it. **[ATK: 0600; LV: 3]**

"Next, I'll sacrifice Defend Guy to summon Destiny Hero Dash Guy in Attack Mode!" The rocky-armored creature transformed into an orb of rainbow-colored energy. Dashing out of the orb was the cybernetic wheeled hero. **[ATK: 2100; LV: 6]**

"Finally, I'll sacrifice Devil Guy to summon Destiny Hero Double Guy!" The demonic-clad hero transformed into another rainbow energy orb. This time, a slender man flew out of it. He was dressed in all black, including his hat, coat, pants and shoes. The only things that weren't black were his grey scarf and his white gloves. **[ATK: 1000; LV: 6]**

"To top it off, I activate my face-down card, D-Chain!" A Trap Card picturing a black chain with a sickle-like object at the end lifted up. "When I activate this card, it can become an Equip Card that equips to a Destiny Hero on my field! And while it's equipped, that monster gains five hundred Attack Points!" The same chain pictured on the card appeared in the hands of the cybernetic wheeled hero. **[ATK: 2100 – 2600]**

"Destiny Hero Dash Guy, attack Infernity Destroyer! _Lightning Strike_!" The cybernetic wheeled hero tore across the altar and, instead of attacking with his feet, swung his newly-equipped chain at the pitch-black fiend, shattering it into pixels. **[LP: 1700 – 1400]** After the attack, the same purple aura shrouded her again, and part of the aura was absorbed into her necklace's amethyst.

"I almost forgot: When a monster equipped with D-Chain destroys one of your monsters in battle, you lose five hundred Life Points!" For the second time in a row, the wheeled hero swung his chain at Amphiaraus, causing him to fall down backwards. **[LP: 1400 – 0900]**

Fortunately, he managed to get himself up as he declared: "I now resurrect Infernity Avenger as a Level Six monster!" True to his word, another dark purple portal appeared, and the midget cowboy fiend floated up from it. **[DEF: 0000; LV: 1 – 6]**

"Doesn't matter, 'cause I'm _still_ gonna win!" Mira said. "See, my Double Guy has the ability of attacking _twice_ during one Battle Phase! That means when I destroy your Avenger the _first_ time, I'll attack you directly the _second_ time! _Death Overlap_!" The black-suited hero raised his cane high, and a figure appeared behind him. It appeared to be a deformed but stronger version of himself, as his clothes were torn from his bulging muscles. He also had blood-red eyes and long grey hair. The muscular figure leapt up and headed towards the midget cowboy fiend.

"At this moment, I activate the effect of Infernity Flux in my Graveyard!" Amphiaraus shouted. Another dark purple portal appeared, and a Trap Card quickly rose out of it. It was the orange-haired fiend casting a spell to create a wall of violet energy to protect himself from incoming fireballs. That same wall appeared around Amphiaraus, somehow causing the muscular figure to stop dead in his tracks before fading away.

"I'm sorry, but did you just activate a card from your _Graveyard_?!" Mira cried.

"Correct. This Trap Card only works during a turn you've destroyed one my 'Infernity' monsters, and while I have no cards in my hand. As a result, your attack is negated, and your Battle Phase comes to an end!"

This time, Mira actually did growl at her opponent's move. "After Dash Guy attacks, he goes into Defense Mode!" The cybernetic wheeled hero knelt defensively. **[DEF: 1000]** "I'll place two cards face-down, and end my turn!" she said, taking two cards from her hand and sliding them into her Disk's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. After two vertical backings materialized, the wave of light purple energy erupted underneath her, causing her to slightly groan. **[LP: 3000 – 2900]**

"My turn!" Amphiaraus declared, drawing. After he drew, the same shadowy portal that appeared before formed again; one by one, the six cards he threw into it floated down back into his hand. "First, I summon Infernity Dwarf in Attack Mode!" Another blue portal appeared, and a small bearded dwarf wielding a flaming axe floated up from it. **[ATK: 0800; LV: 2]**

"Next, I tune my Level Six Infernity Avenger into my Level Two Infernity Dwarf!"

The midget cowboy fiend split apart into six white stars, each one transforming into a green virtual ring. The rings flew through the body of the axe-wielding dwarf, who transformed into two white stars. **[2+6=8]** As this happened, Amphiaraus chanted:

"_The dead and the living… The moment they meet at zero, above the cage of eternity, the demonic dragon comes out! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Infernity Doom Dragon!"_

A burst of white-green light flashed before the duel. Emerging out of the light was a pitch-black dragon with four eyes, a small set of arms over its larger set, and a sharp horn out of its snout. **[ATK: 3000; LV: 8]**

"Next, I activate Wave-Motion Inferno!" A Spell Card picturing the orange-haired fiend in a fiery red background materialized. "As long as I have no cards in my hand, all of my 'Infernity' monsters gain four hundred Attack and Defense Points!"

"But you have five cards in your hand, so your Spell Card's useless!" Mira exclaimed in a taunting manner.

"That is where you are wrong. After I place this card face-down, I'll activate the effect of Phantom Hand once again!" He took a card from his hand and rapidly slid it through his gauntlet's Spell/Trap Card Zone slot. After another vertical backing materialized on his field, the same shadowy portal emerged above him once again, and tossed his four remaining cards into the portal before it closed up.

"And now that I do _not_ have any cards in my hand, my Wave-Motion Inferno is _not_ 'useless' after all!" A fiery red aura shrouded the dragon for a few moments. **[ATK: 3000 – 3400]**

"Next, I activate Infernity Doom Dragon's special ability! Once a turn, I can destroy one monster on your field, and then you lose Life Points equal to half of its Attack Points! _Infernity Death Breath_!" The dragon unleashed a burst of black and orange fire from its mouth, which incinerated the cybernetic wheeled hero. Some of the fire also struck at Mira's chest as she winced in pain. **[LP: 2900 – 1600]**

"According to your monster's effect," Mira said, looking at Infernity Doom Dragon's details through her Gazer, "your monster can't attack when it activates its effect! That means you're gonna end your turn now, right?"

"Wrong," Amphiaraus corrected her. "I activate the other effect of Infernity Launcher! By sending it to my Graveyard while I have no cards in my hand, I can resurrect two 'Infernity' monsters from my Graveyard! Return to me, Infernity Destroyer and Infernity Archfiend!" After taking one of the three cards from his Spell/Trap Card Zone slot and sending it to his gauntlet's Graveyard slot, two dark purple portals appeared next to the dragon. Floating out of one of them was the muscular black fiend, and floating out of the other was the orange-haired fiend. As soon as both fiends appeared, they were shrouded by the same fiery aura the dragon was shrouded by earlier. **[ATK: 2300 – 2700; LV: 6]** **[ATK: 1800 – 2200; LV: 4]**

"The difference between the Attack Points of my Infernity Avenger and your Double Guy is more than enough to defeat you. I admit, I liked you as an opponent; alas, my duty has to be done!

"Infernity Destroyer, attack Double Guy and end this duel!" The muscular black fiend charged towards the black suited hero, roaring as it raised its claws high.

"I activate the effect of Destiny Hero Dagger Guy in my hand!" Mira shouted, quickly sliding the only card in her hand to her Graveyard slot. The faded image of the silver-armored blade-equipped hero appeared behind her. "During your Battle Phase, I can send him from my hand to the Graveyard to have all my Destiny Heroes gain eight hundred Attack Points!"

A violet aura shrouded the black-suited hero for a few moments. **[ATK: 1000 – 1800]** No sooner had the aura worn off before the black fiend slashed at the black-suited hero, shattering him into pixels. **[LP: 1600 – 0700]**

"Another waste on your behalf. There is still the ability of Infernity Destroyer! When it destroys one of your monsters in battle while I have no cards in my hand, you lose sixteen hundred Life Points!" Some violet flames shrouded the fiend's claws as it charged towards Mira directly.

"Not gonna happen! I activate the Trap Card, Damage Polarizer!" A Trap Card picturing a silver-armored knight holding up a shield to protect himself against an explosion lifted up. "When you activate an effect that would inflict me with damage, the damage is automatically negated!" The same shield appeared in front of Mira as the fiend slashed at it. However, not even a single dent was on the shield, even before it disappeared.

"Also, this card forces us to draw one card apiece!" Both players did just that. "And now that you have a card in your hand, all your monsters lose their power boost!" Sure enough, the same fiery red aura that shrouded Amphiaraus's three monsters appeared once again. **[ATK: 3400 – 3000]** **[ATK: 2700 – 2300]** **[ATK: 2200 – 1800]**

"It matters not—I am _still_ going to end this duel, once Infernity Archfiend attacks you directly! _Hell Pressure_!" The orange-haired fiend raised its arms again, and the same symbol that appeared earlier in the duel formed above Mira's head.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Mira shouted. "I activate the Trap Card, Dread Ritual!" The Trap Card picturing the silhouette of the muscular chained hero behind the demonic-clad hero and the muscular orange-haired hero lifted up. "Since two Destiny Heroes were destroyed this turn, I can call forth my ace: _Destiny Hero Dread Guy_!"

The altar shook as the muscular chained hero leapt up from its depths below. **[ATK: ?; LV: 8]** Ironically, there was no actual damage done to the altar's floor.

"And since it's treated as being summoned by 'Clock Tower Prison', his effect activates right away! _Dread Roar_!" The muscular chained hero unleashed an ear-piercing howl as two dark purple portals appeared beside him. Floating up from the first portal was the cybernetic wheeled hero, and floating up from the other was the crystal-covered hero. **[ATK: 2100; LV: 6]** **[ATK: 1400; LV: 4]**

"And thanks to his other ability, Dread Guy's Attack and Defense Points are equal to the total Attack Points of all other Destiny Heroes on my field!" The sinister violet aura shrouded the muscular chained hero. **[ATK: ? – 3500]**

_This Mira Oshaki really is a more exceptional opponent than I thought she would be!_ the impressed Cassandra thought. _Could she really have what it takes to be a Wielder after all…?_

Meanwhile, Amphiaraus was looking rather panicked. Back and forth, he stared at the card he just drew, and the vertical backing on his field.

_If I get rid of this card,_ he worriedly thought, _I could make use of my face-down Infernity Force Trap Card!_ He looked once again at his vertical backing, which became a faded image of a demonic dog avoiding beams of light coming from a four-armed crystalline creature. _Once her monster attacks one of my 'Infernity' monsters while I have no cards in my hand, this card will destroy the attacking monster, and then I can resurrect a Level Four or lower 'Infernity' monster from my Graveyard! That way, I will meet the requirements to play this card! …But that is it: I _need_ this card. But if I do _not_ get rid of it, I will not have what I need to play this! Besides, what if Mira finds a way to outsmart me once _again_?!_

_There is only one thing I can do…!_

"…I end…my turn…" he said aloud in defeat. With those words said, the same wave of purple energy erupted from underneath him. This time, it did cause him some pain as he groaned in response. **[LP: 1700 – 1600]**

_Something's not right,_ Mira thought, looking at 'Wave-Motion Inferno' through her Gazer. _His Wave-Motion Inferno's _other_ effect would allow him to send all the cards in his hand to the Graveyard. So why didn't he use it _now_? …His loss, I guess!_

"Okay, Amphiaraus!" Mira declared as she drew. "It's time I end this duel! But first, the effect of Double Guy will activate! After he's destroyed, two Double Guy Tokens come to my side of the field!" Two more blue portals appeared on Mira's field; floating up from each portal was a copy of the black-suited hero. **[DEF: 1000; LV: 4]** **[DEF: 1000; LV: 4]**

"Next, I activate Dash Guy's special ability! Once a turn, I can sacrifice another monster on my field to have it gain one thousand Attack Points this turn!" One of the two black-suited hero clones transformed into another rainbow orb. This time, the orb was transferred into the cybernetic wheeled hero's body. **[ATK: 2100 – 3100]**

_I now have monsters that are more than strong enough to wipe him out,_ Mira thought. _The question is, will my final attacks release enough of this 'Sense' to prove myself as a Wielder? …Only one way to find out!_

"Destiny Hero Dash Guy, attack Infernity Archfiend! _Lightning Strike_!" The cybernetic wheeled hero tore across the altar and spun on his left foot, kicking his other foot across the orange-haired fiend's face, shattering it into pixels. **[LP: 1600 – 0300]** After the attack Mira noticed she was shrouded by the same purple aura, only there was much more of it that was both surrounding her and being absorbed into the amethyst. _Looks like a lot is going in…but I still have one attack left!_

"Destiny Hero Dread Guy, attack Infernity Doom Dragon and end this duel! _Predator of Dreadnought_!" The muscular chained hero leapt into the air and swung the chain attached to his left wrist at the dragon, shattering it into pixels. The force of the attack caused an explosion on Amphiaraus's field, flinging Amphiaraus himself off the altar and causing the gathered crowd to cheer. **[LP: 0300 – 0000]** As a virtual screen displaying Mira's face with 'WIN' written underneath in gold—and as the same wave of green digital energy flowed, returning the field to normal—Mira noticed that she was shrouded by an even larger purple aura, and much more of it was being absorbed into her amethyst. _Okay, that _should_ be enough…I hope…_

"Well done, Miss Oshaki," Amphiaraus said, slowly approaching the victor. "I congratulate you upon that feat."

"There's one thing I don't get, though," Mira said. "Why didn't you use your Wave-Motion Inferno to send all the cards in your hand to the Graveyard."

"Because, much to my dismay, I happened to have this in my hand." He revealed to Mira the card he drew the previous turn: Dark Armed Dragon.

"Oh. I can understand why you didn't use it, then. …So, what happens now?"

"Have you forgotten what Amphiaraus had told you?" Cassandra lightly scolded. "In the Ceremony, you unleashed Sense. And Sense is what we believe could unlock the Chamber where the spirit of the Iroa sleeps. If one unleashes enough Sense to unlock the Chamber, then one is a Wielder; for a Wielder must have a strong dueling spirit, indeed!"

"I know—but how am I supposed to open this…thing?"

"See that slot over there?" Cassandra asked, pointing to a hollow slot in the center of the small circle. Its shape was the exact same one as the glowing amethyst of Mira's necklace. "Simply take the amethyst out and place it in the slot."

"Okay, but how do I-" Mira began, toying with the amethyst on her necklace. Much to her surprise, she managed to detach the amethyst. After a few seconds of staring at the slot, she took a deep breath and carefully placed the amethyst in the slot.

When she did, the most extraordinary thing happened. The amethyst caused all of the ancient letters of the altar to glow a lustrous violet. One by one, the tiles dropped down as they formed a staircase. Upon seeing this, all of the villagers cheered at their wildest, knowing that their awaited Wielder had indeed been found. "Um…go me?" she said awkwardly.

"Mira Oshaki, you have proven yourself a Wielder," Cassandra solemnly declared, taking the still glowing amethyst from the slot and handing it to Mira. "Now, go down there, and use this to be one with the spirit below!"

"Y-you mean all by myself?" Mira asked, slightly trembling. Cassandra simply nodded. Mira began to walk down the staircase, but Cassandra stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Before you do so," she warned, "you must promise me that you shall never reveal your new duty as a Wielder to _anyone_."

"Really?" Mira asked. "But what if someone happens to be a Wielder, themselves?"

"You shall tell this to _no one_. Your duty as a Wielder also comes with great risks. Anyone who discovers your new duty could be working for our enemies. And should that happen, they could _kill_ you, right on the spot! Do you understand this?"

"…I do."

"Excellent," Cassandra said, releasing her hold on Mira. "You may go forth now." Mira nodded, then headed down the staircase.

* * *

At the bottom of the staircase was a room with white walls. In front of her was an amethyst tablet depicting some kind of woman. The woman had no visible face, but had long hair. She appeared to be naked, as Mira could see her unclothed chest and vaginal areas. A rotating Duel Monsters card was floating above the tablet. On one side, the card was completely blank. On the other side, however, the card was white with six diamond shapes—two pointing upright and on top of each other, and the remaining four positioned diagonally, to form a hexagonal pattern. The uppermost diamond was glowing amethyst.

"I'm guessing this is where this 'spirit' is," she said to herself. "The question is, what do I do _now_?" Almost instantly, she noticed that on the woman's chest was another hollow slot in the shape of the amethyst.

Very slowly, she placed the amethyst in the slot. Suddenly, like the ancient letterings, the tablet began to shine a lustrous violet. The amethyst detached itself from the statue as various amounts of violet ectoplasm was sucked out of the tablet and into the crystal as the tablet greatly lost its color. As soon as the tablet was completely black, the card began floating down until it was in front of Mira.

_Am I supposed to _take_ this?_ Mira thought hesitantly. Despite this, she suddenly and unexplainably found herself reaching towards the card and grasping onto it. When she did, she felt like she couldn't let go of it, no matter how much she tried, or wanted to try. Somehow, she felt that her left eye—from the sclera to the pupil—was glowing a lustrous green.

* * *

No sooner had all of that happened when the alarm clock sounded off, causing Mira to wake up in a sweat. Here, she was back in her regular sleepwear.

Kero, too, heard the alarm go off. After yawning and stretching his arms, he cheerfully said, "Morning, everyone! Hope everyone had a good night's sleep!" After looking at Mira's shocked expression, he added: "Mira, you look like you've seen a ghost! Did you have a nightmare, or something?"

"Um…_yeah_! I had a big nightmare that's too scary to talk about!" Mira fibbed, laughing nervously.

"Whatever it was," Homanu said, getting himself up, "I'm sure you'll forget about it in due time."

"Yeah—in fact, I think I'm starting to forget about it already. Now, I gotta wash my face." She got herself out of bed and headed to the bathroom to fill the sink with water. As she did, she thought about the real dream she just had, and the crystal and card she presumably acquired in the process.

_I have no idea what the hell happened back there,_ she thought. _But something tells me I'm gonna have to take care of what I've got—more than I'd think…_

* * *

**FEATURED CARD – CHRONICLE 003**

**Corycian Cave  
**Spell/Field  
During each End Phase, the turn player takes 100 damage for each card in their hand.

* * *

**EXCLUSIVE CARDS**

**Corycian Cave  
**Spell/Field  
During each End Phase, the turn player takes 100 damage for each card in their hand.  
_Image: An underground village consisting of stone huts and a stone bridge over an underground river  
Origination: Psychid_

**Cease and Desist  
**Spell/Normal  
Change 1 monster you control that attacked this turn to Defense Position.  
_Image: A Marauding Captain signaling one of his comrades wearing the same armor he's wearing to kneel defensively  
Origination: Psychid_

**Destiny Mirage  
**Trap/Normal  
Activate only when a "Destiny Hero" monster you control is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Special Summon to your side of the field all "Destiny Hero" monsters that were destroyed and sent to the Graveyard this turn.  
_Image: Several shards of shattered glass being flung away from Destiny Hero Devil Guy, with an image of Devil Guy in each shard  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime – Episode 78 – The Strongest Tag!? Judai and Edo (First Part)  
(NOTE: This is a card that actually exists in the OCG/TCG; its anime effect is being applied because it's superior to its OCG/TCG effect)_

**Card of Sanctity  
**Spell/Normal  
Each player draws cards until they have 6 cards in their hand.  
_Image: Two peasants catching gold coins falling from Heaven  
Origination: Yu-Gi-Oh! anime – Episode 96 – Dark (Marik) vs. Dark (Bakura)  
(NOTE: This is a card that actually exists in the OCG/TCG; its anime effect is being applied because it's superior to its OCG/TCG effect)_

**Infernity Flux  
**Trap/Normal  
Activate only when your opponent declares an attack during the turn a face-up "Infernity" monster you control was destroyed (either by battle or by card effect) and sent to the Graveyard, while you have no cards in your hand. Remove from play this card from your Graveyard to negate the attack and end the Battle Phase.  
_Image: Infernity Archfiend creating a wall of violet energy to protect itself from incoming fireballs  
Origination: Psychid_

* * *

**Next time, on **_**Yu-Gi-Oh! EXELIXI**_**…**

**Seto Kaiba's newest tournament is revealed, and Kero wants to participate!**

"'Duelatropolis Riding Team Grand Prix', huh?" Mira said, scratching her head. Turning to her friends, she continued, "Homanu, you _do_ have a point of Seto wanting to start a tournament after _another_ one of his tournaments ended. But Kero, you also have a point about Seto doing such a thing being suspicious."

"Yeah, but I now take it all back!" Kero beamed. "Now his tournament sounds like _fun_!"

**So Kero gets a brand-new Duel Runner in exchange for one of his best cards!**

"I'll take the Runner," he said, sliding the card towards Jenner.

"A wise choice, my friend," Jenner said, wheeling the Runner to Kero. "You've certainly made yourself a fine purchase, Mr.…um…"

"Kero. Kero Nobuyuki." He climbed upon his Runner and was about to start its engines.

**But some things are just too good to be true!**

"WELL, THIS IS JUST _FANTASTIC_!" he ranted. "Now I'll have to find _ANOTHER_ rare card to give to Jenner so that I get _ANOTHER_ Duel Runner!"

"Wait a minute—_who_ gave you that Runner?!" Homanu cried.

"Some guy named Jenner did. Why do you ask?"

"Kero, tell me _exactly_ how you got this Runner!" Homanu hastily directed. Kero hesitated at first, but got himself to tell Homanu the whole story, including him meeting Jenner for the first time, and the card he gave away for the now obliterated Duel Runner.

"Christ, I was afraid of this!" Homanu groaned. "Kero, Jenner's a total cheat!"

"A cheat?!"

**Now Kero will have to track down this cheat and get his card back!**

"If you're that desperate to get your card back, I suppose I can make a deal with you," Jenner said.

"How do I know this isn't gonna be another one of your tricks?!"

"Please, let me _finish_!" Jenner barked. Calming down, he continued, "We have a duel—right here, right now. Win, and _maybe_ you'll get your card back. But lose, and your whole deck is _mine_!"

"Whatever it takes to get my card back!" he said, quickly slipping two of the three rectangular boxes on his right wrist as opposed to the usual left. After pressing a button, a panel resembling the right wing of Gradius from the classic Konami games of the same title materialized. The panel had five red-colored Monster Card Zones.

**Will Kero get his card back from the cheat, Jenner, without giving in to any more deceiving deals that may come Kero's way?**

**Stay tuned for the next Chronicle: "Dark Bribe"!**


End file.
